Symbolics 40 years ago: Interview with Harri Rautiainen

Mr. Harri Rautiainen is an accomplished saxophone player who founded the Sax on the Web Forum in 1996. It’s a comprehensive web site about saxophones and the World’s biggest Saxophone discussion forum where both beginners and industry experts gather.

A decade prior, Mr. Rautiainen worked at Symbolics, Inc. where as an international sales manager he managed distributors in Europe and Israel out of Cambridge, MA. He was a “hot pick” for Symbolics as Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) had been his previous employee of 12 years.

Symbolics, Inc. was the leading Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems workstation manufacturer in the 1980’s. The company “just so happened” to casually register the first ever .com domain, Symbolics.com.

Mr. Rautiainen kindly accepted our set of questions for an interview; in this short Q/A session we attempt to gauge the technological horizon of a pioneering company, through the eyes of an important employee: Mr. Rautiainen made the Symbolics High Achievers’ Club every year.

DomainGang: In 1985, Symbolics made history by registering Symbolics.com as the first .com domain. From your own knowledge as an employee did the team recognize the significance of securing this digital real estate, or was it seen as just another administrative task?

Harri Rautiainen: From my perspective, the domain name was not a significant issue then.

Note (DG): It makes sense as early domain registrations were often procedural rather than strategic, especially in a time when the internet’s future and role were mostly undefined.

DomainGang: LISP machines were cutting-edge, and Symbolics was at the forefront of Artificial Intelligence and computing. Was there ever an internal discussion about how the internet could shape the future of Symbolics’ business? Did anyone foresee domain names becoming valuable digital assets?

Harri Rautiainen: Although Symbolics was a leader in many ways, I did not see the domain name’s importance then. There were no HW routers nor DNS so the domain name could not be used e.g. in email communication.

Note (DG): The lack of DNS and essential infrastructure at the time certainly limited the immediate utility of domain names. It’s fascinating how quickly that changed in the following years!

DomainGang: LISP was revolutionary, yet the rise of personal computers and different programming paradigms led to Symbolics’ decline. If the company had survived into the web-driven world, how do you think it could have leveraged Symbolics.com in a modern internet landscape?

Harri Rautiainen: Yes, the Symbolics workstation was based on LISP language but had a higher price ticket than “general purpose” UNIX workstations that came later, e.g. SUN Computer. LISP certainly had its benefits, e.g. in fast prototyping but over time the cost of hardware became an issue for many customers.

Note (DG): The pricing challenge is a key factor in many technological shifts. While LISP had strong advantages, the economics of hardware clearly played a major role in the industry’s direction.

DomainGang: Symbolics engineers were working on problems decades ahead of mainstream computing. If you could compare the vision of Symbolics to any modern tech giant, whether in AI, computing, or web development, who would it be?

Harri Rautiainen: Yes, Symbolics was a forerunner in AI systems as IBM was in mainframes then, Nokia in mobile phones (the 1990s), and NVDIA in AI today.

Note (DG): It’s evident that Symbolics was pushing boundaries in AI much like today’s leading tech firms. Visionary companies often lay the groundwork for future innovation, even if they don’t always survive market shifts.

DomainGang: With Symbolics.com being the first domain ever registered, did anyone at the company consider acquiring more domains early on? Looking back, do you think Symbolics could have capitalized on the domain boom if it had recognized the potential of digital real estate?

Harri Rautiainen: Macsyma (“Project MAC’s SYmbolic MAnipulator”) is one of the oldest general-purpose computer algebra systems still widely used. Originally developed at MIT, it was made into a commercial product by Symbolics. It was run as a separate division. I am not sure if Symbolics ever acquired the macsyma.com domain name.

Note (DG): That’s an intriguing historical footnote. The domain landscape evolved rapidly and early foresight could have positioned Symbolics differently in the digital era. Per our research, Symbolics Macsyma was spun off to Macsyma, Inc. in 1992. That same year the domain name macsyma.com was registered (May 18, 1992.)

DomainGang: With the current renewed interest in AI, functional programming, and specialized hardware, do you think there could have been a different timeline where LISP machines thrived? If Symbolics had survived longer, how might it have played a role in today’s AI and software landscape?

Harri Rautiainen: I see a renewed interest in LISP nowadays demonstrating that it had its merits and maybe still has. Cannot comment otherwise.

Note (DG): The resurgence of LISP in AI and functional programming circles suggests its core strengths still hold value; even if Symbolics didn’t survive, its influence continues in modern computing.

DomainGang: Harri, many thanks for the opportunity to share with our readers some remarkable testimonials from that era as a professional and an employee of Symbolics, Inc.!

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