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\F1\CJan 30, 1981









Dr. H. Garland
Dr. A. Algren
Dr. R. Melen
Cromemco Inc.
280 Bernardo Ave.
Mt. View, CA

Dear Drs:

\J
Last September, Xerox announced that they had released Smalltalk-80
to five manufacturers, beginning efforts to bring the Smalltalk family 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, we can do better.

The more global solution is to develop LISP. Besides
being the parent of many of the LOGO/Smalltalk ideas, it 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. 

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. 
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,
Creative Computing just did a two-issue spread on LISP/actor/object-oriented
concepts;
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.

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 major
effort,
has recently purchased two Cromemco machines 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 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  and
 STEAMER, wants an extended version of TLC LISP on the 68000. 
That is, they will be funding me
to "do for LISP, what UCSD did for Pascal". 
As you may recall, Roger,
that was my initial motivation when I came to Cromemco two years ago.

STEAMER  is only one segment of  applied AI currently
being done on small machines:
there is another Cromemco user in the mid-West (doing Air Force work) using
LISP to implement a natural language data-base retrieval system
for automated drafting. I have sold several CP/M-based LISPs to 
R&D-oriented  organizations for such things as LISP-based
multi-microprocessor systems (256 Z-80s!) and
research in Frame Languages. 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 machines
rather than special LISP machines.
Furthermore, this is a market that \F2no\F1 language other than LISP
will impact for many years.

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 take,
often 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;  I am developing a series
of courses at Santa Clara University based on these ideas. This
brings me to the ultimate point of this letter: a horse-trade.

1. I am developing at least two undergraduate classes, probably a 
continuing faculty workshop, a LISP class for the 
Western Institute in Computer Science, and ultimately a high school
mathematics/computing curriculum, based on LISP and an interactive
programming laboratory.

2. I have a "seed grant" coming from the Navy group that sponsored
UCSD's Pascal effort to develop the standard LISP for the Navy.

3. The initial target machine for the Navy is the MC68000.

4. I need Z-80 based machines  for the Interactive Programming Laboratory
at Santa Clara.

5. I need additional funds to move rapidly on the Navy grant.

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.  This could  done through
Santa Clara University as a tax-deductible gift I suspect.
The return on this  investment is entry of
the Cromemco name into the AI and quality educational market.
The 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. So now, as two years ago, I'm
asking for another "act of faith". The difference now is that
the Z-80 effort has had the appropriate effect; the AI community  now
knows that Cromemco and TLC exist.

The question is: are you interested, 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.

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


\←L\→S\←R\-L\/'2;\+L\→L

Yours sincerely,


John R. Allen
18215 Bayview Dr.
Los Gatos Ca, 95030
(408) 353-3857

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