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\F1\CJan 30, 1981





Mr. Ed Juge
Tandy Corporation
1300 One Tandy Center
Fort Worth, TX 76102

Dear Mr. Juge:

\J
You may recall, that about a year ago I wrote to you about 
the possibility of developing LISP for your machines. Unfortunately,
our discussions didn't  result in a TRS-80 LISP.
Several things have changed in the meantime that lead 
me approach you again.

Those things are:

⊗ Smalltalk

⊗ The Commercialization of AI

⊗ The UCSD Pascal Phenomenon

⊗ Movement in the Educational Market.

⊗ LISP Classes for the AI Market

⊗ Your Rumored 16-bit Effort.
\.


\C\F3Smalltalk\F1
\J
Last September, Xerox announced the  release of Smalltalk-80
to five manufacturers, beginning efforts to bring the Smalltalk family 
of languages to
the mass market. The effect of Smalltalk is expected to be massive. There
are two ways to counter the Smalltalk phenomenon: (1)ignore it, or
(2)counter it.

It is naive to believe that "ignorance is bliss". Smalltalk \F2will\F1
have significant market impact. The 
only realistic alternative is to offer a language with
superior characteristics. The possible choices here are LOGO and LISP.

LOGO, as described in Seymour Papert's new book \F2Mindstorms: Computers,
Children, and Powerful Ideas\F1, has been an exceptional vehicle for teaching
primary-grade students "how to think".  LOGO is Smalltalk's immediate
parent; it was developed at MIT in the late 1960's; it introduced the 
idea of  the "turtle"; and it implemented the rudiments of object-oriented 
programming, both hallmarks of Smalltalk.
So LOGO offers a direct counter to the Smalltalk challenge.
However, it is limited in scope, addressing itself to the
educational domain rather than commercial quality applications.
We can do better with LISP.

Besides
being the parent of many of the LOGO/Smalltalk ideas, LISP offers
a degree of maturity and practicality not found in either Smalltalk or
LOGO. This breadth includes Artificial Intelligence applications
as well as educational benefits. 
\.


\C\F3The Commercialization of AI\F1
\J
The  AI market is broad, both in the sense of professional applications
and educational implications. 
Major corporations --Schlumberger, Standard Oil, TI, CDC,
IBM, and HP for example-- are investing heavily in AI. 
These are not simply research efforts; they are directed to 
the substanitial development of commercial products.
These applications include intelligent CAD systems that understand design rules;
CAI systems that undertand the topic under investigation; "expert systems"
that can operate at at expert level in specialized domains like
chemistry, genetics, medicine, and structural engineering; intelligent
control systems for robots; large-scale algebraic manipulations systems;
and natural language interfaces to complex data base applications for business
data processing.

The immediate impact of this is a short supply of trained AI personnel
and therefore increased demand at the college level for AI-related 
courses. From beneath this surface will spring a general cultural
awareness of, and interest in, AI-related  topics. For example,
four publishers have asked me to write  an introductory-level LISP text;
and this year a group of us will do a major session/demo/tutorial
on LISP and related areas at the West Coast Computer Faire.

The point is that AI is a growing market
--two billion dollars by 1990, claims Business Week-- and a good
portion of that work will be done on traditional micro processor based machines
rather than special LISP machines.
Furthermore, this is a market that \F2no\F1 language other than LISP
will impact for many years.
\.


\C\F3The UCSD Pascal Phenomenon\F1
\J
In a combination of AI and education, the US Navy
is staffing a large R&D AI effort. One aspect of their 
program is  an application of Intelligent CAI that will 
 utilize several
thousand micro-based  machines  running LISP.
One segment --called the STEAMER Project-- of this
effort 
has recently purchased Z-80 systems solely
for the purpose of running LISP.  These systems are being utilized
to "off-load" parts of a LISP-based  simulation model of the
dynamics of a ship's steam boiler plant. The combined system is used
to train naval personnel in the care and maintenance of the steam plant.
Though parts of this work can be done effectively on Z-80 class machines,
the ultimate target of the
Navy work is, of course, a more powerful machine
and a more powerful LISP. 

In particular,
the  group that funded the UCSD Pascal effort
 wants me to develop an extended version of TLC LISP for 16-bit machines.
That is, they will be funding me
to "do for LISP, what UCSD did for Pascal". 
Considering the Navy's commitment to AI, and the effect their Pascal
effort had on micro computing, this TLC project
will have a substantial impact on the AI field.
\.


\C\F3Educational Movement\F1
\J
AI applications are only one thread of the LISP fabric. Another  
major  impact  will be "nose-to-nose" with Smalltalk in the educational
market, for LISP offers several advantages here.
At the level of applications, one can easily argue that
a syntactically "sugar-coated" LISP with a graphics interface will
supply the younger learner with much, if not all, that
Smalltalk supplies. In fact, this is exactly the route the LOGO people 
often take,
implementing LOGO in LISP.

Where LISP comes into its own in the educational 
market is its 
basis in mathematics, and computing principles; one can use LISP
\F2explain\F1 the principles that underlie the phenomena that one
\F2experiences\F1 in Smalltalk and LOGO. Smalltalk and LOGO are to
engineering, as LISP is to mathematics. This added leverage
gives LISP inroads into intellectual disciplines that are not
open to a more superficial language. For example,
one can give a firm  and intuitive basis for modern computing,
based on simple LISP-like constructs.

At MIT Dr. Harold Abelson and Dr. Andrea diSessa  have instituted a program
to revise the undergraduate mathematics and physics curricula using a LISP-based
approach. 
Their project,  co-sponsored
by MIT and ARPA, illustrates two points:
first, MIT's
committment to LISP  --LISP 
has long been the major language used in their introductory software course, and
now is to be  used to revitalize the more traditional undergraduate curricula.
Second, ARPA's
sponsorship denotes awareness 
that the growth of AI will require substantial increases in the 
number of AI personnel. The MIT program will do much to improve education and
increase the general awareness of LISP ideas.

At Santa Clara University I have instituted a program to revamp the undergraduate
computer science curriculum using LISP ideas as the base. This program includes
an interactive programming lab as an integral part of the educational experience.
This pilot study will begin in the spring term and will
be exported to other universities as rapidly as possible; several other universities
have expressed strong interest.
We also expect to expand this program into a continuing Humanities and
Science faculty workshop; this program will develop a campus-wide 
course to introduce computing to the student-body.

My ultimate goal is to move a version of 
this integrated program --LISP-based text
and computing laboratory-- into the  high schools to  revitalize their
mathematics and science programs, while giving a more accurate view of modern
computation than that presented in the traditional BASIC model.  

The potential, both in financial and intellectual terms, for an improved
educational offering  is immense. 
There is increasing awareness that the current uses of computing in education
are inadequate.
A recent joint NSF and Dept. of Education
task force reported grim predictions for the educational output on the US
technological front; they suggested a Presidential council to guide the
refurbishing of our mathematics and science  programs. Recent issues of Computer
magazine, Communications of the ACM, BYTE, and
U.S.News,  have addressed the same
problems: current science education is a disaster.

In  the July 1980 issue of BYTE, Dr. Arthur
Luehrman suggests a billion-dollar equipment market and $50 million annually
in  sales of texts for
computer-related secondary education.
The applications and educational 
market will be there in full force for the 16-bit machines,
and Smalltalk's entry will only enlarge the wave. Some will
ride that wave, others will be swamped by it. 
LISP offers
and elegant way to finesse the Smalltalk phenomenon, and TLC will be
the force behind micro-based LISPs. 
\.


\C\F3LISP Course for Industry\F1
\J
On the technical side, I am offering
a LISP class for the 
Western Institute in Computer Science (run by the people who used to run
the UC Santa Cruz Summer Institute)
to be held this summer at Santa Clara University.
This course will draw a substantial number of people, active in applied
AI; the manufacturer who could demonstrate an inexpensive, powerful LISP
system at this Institute could reap substantial benefits.
\.


\C\F3New Processors\F1
\J
The key, for applicactions and
effective education, is LISP in an inexpensive setting that is compatible
with the parameters of interactive programming. I appears to me that
Tandy has appropriate components to build such systems. The Model II
as it stands
is an attractive package, adaptable to the existing  TLC-LISP
and offering an opportunity for extended display capabilities;  furthermore
we expect to utilize  your bank-switching option to
give an extended memory capability even on the small processor.
The long-range solution is an integrated system running on one of the newer
processors, offering larger address space and more flexible display
systems.
Requirements for interactive 
programming as defined by LISP (or Smalltalk, or LOGO) are more stringent,
requiring carefully considerations of display, and virtual memory design.
I believe that, working together on the Santa Clara project, Tandy
and The LISP Company can cooperatively develop a strong
program and a machine that will please the growing AI and educational
community.
\.

\C\F3Summary\F1
\J
As you can see, mine is a broad plan whose success requires
more support than a small company like mine can supply. I am not
the University of California, MIT, or
even Santa Clara University for that matter; 
neither am I the Xerox Corporation.
I \F2am\F1 convinced that my plan is sound, both financially and intellectually.
The question is: are you interested in helping this effort, willing to
act, and act soon? I need to locate support immediately to assure
that the Interactive Programming Laboratory is in place for the spring.
The most critical problem now is the acquisition of machines for the
programming laboratory. The course runs spring term and needs the
gift/loan of six to ten Z-80 systems--Model II, TRS-80s
could be utilized. This could  done through
Santa Clara University as a tax-deductible gift, I suspect.

If you would like
further information about any  of
these projects, please contact me through one of the following:
Santa Clara University: Dr. Ruth E. Davis --(408)984-4358, 
TLC --(408)353-2227, or home --(408)353-3857.
\.


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Yours sincerely,


John R. Allen
The LISP Company.
18215 Bayview Dr. 
Los Gatos Ca, 95030
(408) 353-2227

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