PickVidsBest GUI, HCI & interface history Videos
The 110 GUI, HCI & interface history videos here were recommended by different people across different months. Choose by who it is for: 3 introductory, 22 intermediate, 84 for a general viewer, and 1 for someone who wants the harder derivation. Most of them are a demo. What they share is that you see the result first and only then decide whether to follow the detail. Channels you will keep seeing include Computer History Museum, TheTedNelson, Colin McDonnell.
Leap Technology
A promotional video for Leap, the navigation technology invented by Jef Raskin, demonstrated on the Canon Cat computer around 1987.
Douglas Adams - Hyperland
Hyperland is a 1990 BBC documentary written by and starring Douglas Adams, who tours an imagined future of hypertext and software agents.
The Lost 1984 Video: young Steve Jobs introduces the Macintosh
A restored recording of Steve Jobs unveiling the original Macintosh in 1984, including the moment it is taken out of its bag and speaks.
Alternate Reality Kit by Randall Smith at Xerox PARC 1986 (VPRI-0131)
A 12-minute demo of the Alternate Reality Kit, built by Randall Smith at Xerox PARC in 1986.
Ted Nelson struggles with uncomprehending radio interviewer, 1979
A 1979 CBC radio interview in which Ted Nelson tries to explain how computers could serve as tools for thinking and visualizing.
Ted Nelson's Eulogy for Douglas Engelbart
Ted Nelson's short eulogy for Douglas Engelbart, delivered at the Computer History Museum in 2013, reflecting on his friend and Engelbart's ideas.
Welcome to Project Soli
Google ATAP's 2015 introduction to Project Soli, a radar-based sensor on a chip that tracks sub-millimeter hand motions for gesture interaction in small devices.
Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? | Ubuntu Summit 25.10
Scott Jenson, a veteran UX designer formerly at Apple and Google, argues that the 'UX/UI' split pits programmers against designers and narrows ambition in open source.
Steve Jobs Introduces the Macintosh
Recording of the January 1984 Boston Computer Society meeting where Steve Jobs unveiled the Macintosh.
Alto System Project: Larry Tesler demonstration of Gypsy
Archival footage of Larry Tesler demonstrating Gypsy, the modeless text editor he and Tim Mott built at Xerox PARC, running on the Computer History Museum's restored Alto.
Live ClojureScript Game Editor
A five-minute demo of a live ClojureScript game editor by Chris Granger.
Apple's Future Computer: The Knowledge Navigator
Apple's late-1980s Knowledge Navigator concept video, produced under John Sculley, showing a professor using a tablet-like device with a conversational software agent.
"Silicon Valley Story" — a Very Short Romantic Comedy by Ted Nelson
A short romantic comedy by Ted Nelson about the 'microcircuitry of love', with Doug Engelbart as his father and Stewart Brand as the villainous CEO.
Xerox Star User Interface (1982) 1 of 2
A demonstration of the 1982 Xerox Star user interface, including its desktop, icons, documents, networking and printing.
Tablet Newspaper (1994)
A 1994 video from Knight Ridder showing a concept for a tablet newspaper with a rounded-corner rectangular touchscreen.
Macworld San Francisco 2000-The Mac OS X Introduction (Pt.1)
An edited excerpt of Steve Jobs introducing Mac OS X at Macworld San Francisco in 2000.
Yesterday's Computer of Tomorrow: The Xerox Alto │Smalltalk-76 Demo
A Computer History Museum demonstration with Dan Ingalls of Smalltalk-76 running on a Xerox Alto, recorded in 2017.
Bill Atkinson: Polaroids showing the Evolution of the Lisa GUI
Bill Atkinson shows and explains his binder of Polaroids taken during Lisa development, documenting how its graphical interface evolved.
MIX08 Microsoft Office 2007: The Story of the Ribbon (1 of 10)
Jensen Harris of the Office 2007 design team tells the behind-the-scenes story of the Ribbon at MIX08.
Douglas Engelbart Interviewed by John Markoff of the New York Times
A Computer History Museum interview in which John Markoff of the New York Times talks with Douglas Engelbart about his life and research.
The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology | Pranav Mistry
Pranav Mistry demos SixthSense, a wearable device that projects information onto the physical world and lets people interact with data through gestures.
Longhorn concept
A concept video from 2003 showing an early vision of Windows Longhorn's interface, before it shipped as Vista.
Bill Atkinson: Hypercard
A short clip of Leo Laporte interviewing Bill Atkinson about developing HyperCard, including his story that the idea came during an LSD experience.
Computers for Cynics 2 - It All Went Wrong at Xerox PARC
Ted Nelson, in his Computers for Cynics series, gives a critical history of Xerox PARC's vision of personal computing.