Categories › Computing History & Culture
GUI, HCI & interface history Videos Recommended on Hacker News (110)
GUI, HCI & interface history is one of the 150 topics Hacker News readers organize their video recommendations around. These 110 videos each earned real recommendations in real HN threads between 2007 and 2026 — 217 recommendations in total — and they're ranked by how many separate months the community kept coming back to them, not by view count.
Interface history and human-computer interaction: Lisa, Macintosh, Engelbart mother of all demos, Smalltalk, Windows UI, Ribbon, Bret Victor, direct manipulation, future of interfaces.
Why HN keeps sending people here — on Bret Victor - Inventing on Principle: “My mind was blown when I saw this video 2 years ago” — an HN commenter, 2014.
Features
Evergreen only
2 mo on HNSelf: The Movie;
Jecel Assumpção Jr
2 HN recommender · 2013–2024
2 mo on HNAlan Kay Demos GRaIL
Vincent Gable
2 HN recommender · 2016–2025
2 mo on HNShawn Douglas - Nanoscale Instruments for Visualizing Small Proteins & Bret Victor - Dynamicland
Foresight Institute
2 HN recommender · 2022–2023
2 mo on HNHere I Stand, at Age 80
TheTedNelson
2 HN recommender · 2017–2019
2 mo on HNSusan Kare explains Macintosh UI ergonomics on the Computer Chronicles (1984)
erg0steur
2 HN recommender · 2020–2022
2 mo on HNNeWS: A Networked and Extensible Window System, lecture by James Gosling
Computer History Museum
2 HN recommender · 2020–2024
2 mo on HN"Eve" by Chris Granger
Strange Loop Conference
2 HN recommender · 2016–2023
2 mo on HNDabble DB demo
krueggen
2 HN recommender · 2014–2018
2 mo on HNMIX08 Microsoft Office 2007: The Story of the Ribbon
zoobean
2 HN recommender · 2019–2025
2 mo on HNTouché: Enhancing Touch Interaction on Humans, Screens, Liquids, and Everyday Objects
DisneyResearchHub
2 HN recommender · 2012–2025
2 mo on HNAlan Kay: A powerful idea about teaching ideas
TED
2 HN recommender · 2009–2024
2 mo on HNThe Computer Chronicles - Hypercard (1987)
The Computer Chronicles
1 HN recommend · 2020–2025
2 mo on HNLeap Technology
aamoviebb
2 HN recommender · 2014–2026
1 mo on HNDouglas Adams - Hyperland
UJ ObscureMedia
1 HN recommend · 2016–2020
1 mo on HNThe Lost 1984 Video: young Steve Jobs introduces the Macintosh
macessentials
1 HN recommend · 2011–2021
1 mo on HNAlternate Reality Kit by Randall Smith at Xerox PARC 1986 (VPRI-0131)
Yoshiki Ohshima (大島芳樹)
1 HN recommend · 2018–2021
1 mo on HNTed Nelson struggles with uncomprehending radio interviewer, 1979
TheTedNelson
1 HN recommend · 2017–2024
1 mo on HNTed Nelson's Eulogy for Douglas Engelbart
Computer History Museum
1 HN recommend · 2018–2025
1 mo on HNWelcome to Project Soli
Google ATAP
1 HN recommend · 2015–2019
1 mo on HNAre we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? | Ubuntu Summit 25.10
Canonical Ubuntu
3 HN recommender · 2025–2026
1 mo on HNSteve Jobs Introduces the Macintosh
Computer History Museum
1 HN recommend · 2016–2024
1 mo on HNAlto System Project: Larry Tesler demonstration of Gypsy
Computer History Museum
1 HN recommend · 2021–2025
1 mo on HNLive ClojureScript Game Editor
ibdknox
1 HN recommend · 2012–2016
1 mo on HNApple's Future Computer: The Knowledge Navigator
Blake Patterson
1 HN recommend · 2011–2024
1 mo on HN"Silicon Valley Story" — a Very Short Romantic Comedy by Ted Nelson
TheTedNelson
1 HN recommend · 2017–2020
1 mo on HNXerox Star User Interface (1982) 1 of 2
VintageCG
1 HN recommend · 2011–2024
1 mo on HNTablet Newspaper (1994)
Matt Novak
1 HN recommend · 2011–2012
1 mo on HNMacworld San Francisco 2000-The Mac OS X Introduction (Pt.1)
JoshuaG
1 HN recommend · 2012–2026
1 mo on HNYesterday's Computer of Tomorrow: The Xerox Alto │Smalltalk-76 Demo
Computer History Museum
1 HN recommend · 2020–2025
1 mo on HNBill Atkinson: Polaroids showing the Evolution of the Lisa GUI
Computer History Museum
1 HN recommend · 2025–2026
1 mo on HNMIX08 Microsoft Office 2007: The Story of the Ribbon (1 of 10)
creativecrewchannel
1 HN recommend · 2011–2020
1 mo on HNDouglas Engelbart Interviewed by John Markoff of the New York Times
Computer History Museum
1 HN recommend · 2014–2018
1 mo on HNThe thrilling potential of SixthSense technology | Pranav Mistry
TED
1 HN recommend · 2016–2023
1 mo on HNLonghorn concept
Arkmage2
1 HN recommend · 2009–2019
1 mo on HNBill Atkinson: Hypercard
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
1 HN recommend · 2022–2025
1 mo on HNComputers for Cynics 2 - It All Went Wrong at Xerox PARC
TheTedNelson
1 HN recommend · 2014–2023