hackertube.io

Alan Kay, 2015: Power of Simplicity

Kenneth Friedman · talk · Watch on YouTube

Software architecture & designTech pioneers & interviewsHistory of computing

What it is

Alan Kay's 2015 talk on the power of simplicity, arguing that systems become simpler by building on more sophisticated fundamental building blocks and that big research horizons drove invention at Xerox PARC. It ranges across computing, tools and scaling software.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN repeatedly cites it as a thought-provoking talk on reducing software complexity and on the state of computing research.

  • 6 people recommended it
  • 7 different months
  • 2 strong recommendations
  • first 2015, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “Easily over of the most thought provoking presentations I have seen recently.”

    Thought-provoking presentation on simplicity

    josteink, 2016-02 · Strong recommendation · in “Rich Hickey Fanclub”

  2. “Highly recommend his talk on the power of simplicity.”

    Lightbulb moment for a young programmer

    vhiremath4, 2024-03 · Strong recommendation · in “Alan Kay's talk at UCLA – Feb 2024 [video]”

  3. “watching a different, more expansive version of the talk like this one, given at Qualcomm”

    More expansive version of Kay's talk

    _pius, 2017-05 · Recommendation · in “Alan Kay at Startup School [video]”

  4. “Listed among favourite tech talks”

    a_d, 2018-04 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: What is your favourite tech talk?”

  5. “The TLDW is that Kay thinks we haven't discovered all the fundamental rules of computing”

    Principled approach to reducing accidental complexity

    fovc, 2019-12 · Recommendation · in “Simple Software Manifesto”

  6. “had a great illustration of this specific phenomenon using astronomy”

    Kepler ellipses illustrate simplifying via better building blocks

    mablopoule, 2025-12 · Recommendation · in “Don MacKinnon: Why Simplicity Beats Cleverness in Software Design [audio]”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: alan kay, xerox parc, complexity, abstraction, computing research

Also recommended by the same people