Alan Kay on "Should web browsers have stuck to being document viewers?"
signa11
14 points
6 comments
June 06, 2026
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Discussion Highlights (3 comments)
austin-cheney
Kay’s answer to the browser/document subject is pretty solid. This is a stupid conversation though, as if hoping everything is either just plain text with hyperlinks or mandating everything into PDF. Nobody wants that except a couple of lonely nerds in the corner who hate JavaScript.
camgunz
Imagine how rich Apple could have become if they had used Alan Kay's brilliance to build hyper engaging products and services instead of letting him toil away uselessly trying to make the bicycle of the mind. What a waste.
typedef_struct
In 1997, the Justice Department decided that Operating Systems and Web Browsers must remain separate. Since then, the Web Browser has been becoming an Operating System.