"Sketchpad" by Ivan Sutherland

-1963
-graphical ancestor of contemporary man-machine interaction and computer graphics.
-the screen as more than virtual paper
-first direct-manipulation interface
-images as objects
-"users can assemble complex objects out of previous constructions, from their personal library..."

The automatic update system Sutherland implements is pretty interesting. Change a single brick, and every identical brick follows suit. The system allows a user to easily change a complex construction. It could be argued that a complex construction is given the ability to build upon itself.
Also, one thing worth thinking about is how this compares to Burroughs's essay on the cut-up method. While Burroughs encourages a chaotic reworking of a given text or object in the pursuit of improvement, Sutherland's approach is systematic and simplifying. One seeks to deconstruct and undermine while the other proposes expand and fortify.