Seymour Papert

Seymour Papert was an influential in furthering the penetration of computer technology to the mainstream market. Specifically, he was interested in using computer technology as a means of education for children. He developed a programming language called LOGO that allowed anyone to program basic aspects of computers. One example of this is a toy, Lego Mindstorms, that I actually played with during my childhood. The Mindstorms allowed users to program basic aspects of the movement of motors inside the Lego creations. Paper predicted, correctly, that by the end of the 20th Century, children’s toys would have as much computing power as the best IBM supercomputers of the day. His work on getting computer technology into the hands of mass-market children’s products for education was one of the ways in which this vision was realized.