Bill Buxton
is a designer and researcher specializing in human aspects of technology, human-computer interaction, and technology-mediated collaborative work. In 1994, he became Chief Scientist at Alias|Wavefront and its parent, SGI. He is also Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. Mr. Buxton's early work designing and using computer-based tools for music composition and performance led to the area of human-computer interaction. He has a long association with Xerox PARC as a consulting research scientist. http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/people/BillBuxton/billbuxton.html The Disappearing Computer: When Things Become What They Appear To Be Historically, there has been a pretty good correspondence between form and function insofar as the tools that we use in our day-to-day lives are concerned. And, with the evolution of tools and biological systems, the tendency is towards increasing specialization. The one notable exception to these points is that ubiquitous tool of the second half of the 20th Century, the personal computer. Is there something different about this tool that explains why it is exempt from the trends that drove the evolution of those that preceded it? Are we just too early in the evolutionary process for the mutations that will eventually bring about these changes to be evident? Our argument is that the design of the general purpose personal computer has gone well beyond its usefulness, and that we are about to enter a period of radical evolution which will be characterized by the emergence of tools specialized for specific users, contexts and function. These new tools will look like what they are, and will reflect a respect for human skills akin to what one would expect from a quality musical instrument. We will make our case through the use of examples, focussing on the use of computers for creative professionals, in particular, in the two areas of film making and industrial design. See schedule.	program BILL BUXTON ANDY CAMERON MATTHEW CHALMERS DANIEL DÖGL BILL GAVER NEIL GERSHENFELD ANDREW GLASSNER PAUL HAEBERLI TOM HEWETT BREWSTER KAHLE PANU KORHONEN DOUG LENAT JO LERNOUT RALPH MERKLE THEODOR H. NELSON CELIA PEARCE MARK PESCE HANI RASHID BILL SCHILIT DAVID SMALL MARCO SUSANI JOHN THACKARA MICHAEL FREEDMAN TURNER WHITTED ANTON ZEILINGER
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