I saw the Utah Teapot at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View when I visited in late 2004. I didn't know it was there. I immediately started calling friends, while standing there in the "Visible Storage" exhibit gawking at it, telling each of them, breathlessly: "I'm looking at _the_ Utah teapot."
I was told later by a docent that my reaction was not uncommon. >smile<
I work at the University of Utah. They had an incredible graphics symposium a few years ago[0]. I got a render of the teapot signed by several of the speakers, which is a prized possession. There was another guy there with an actual replica teapot which he got signed. I was pretty jealous.
Sadly Alan Kay was unable to attend so I didn't get to meet him.
Tangential & graphics-related: there is a story where Jim Foley requested a pirated Eastern European copy of his text (… which heavily features the Utah teapot) as a souvenir.
He found it hilarious that every single equation in the pirated book were reverse images.
I was told later by a docent that my reaction was not uncommon. >smile<
1. https://youtu.be/3NQuHpUyZbI?is=sjkQcadU6_IHjgr0
Sadly Alan Kay was unable to attend so I didn't get to meet him.
[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui3R1Dlmsk0
The original Utah teapot(1.4L) is in stock - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31178947 - April 2022 (7 comments)
Why a Computer History Museum Owns a Legendary Teapot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29259548 - Nov 2021 (1 comment)
Show HN: Teapong – A two-player game for fans of Pong and the Utah teapot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22137758 - Jan 2020 (12 comments)
Bézier Curves and Surfaces: The Utah Teapot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19690575 - April 2019 (7 comments)
The Utah Teapot: Most Important Object in Computer Graphics History - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11209690 - March 2016 (52 comments)
Utah Teapot - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7280289 - Feb 2014 (17 comments)
He found it hilarious that every single equation in the pirated book were reverse images.
https://www.opengl.org/resources/libraries/glut/spec3/node89...
Surprised to see the teapot got another update this year.
[0] https://spectrum.ieee.org/behold-the-worlds-most-famous-teap...
I guess they want to make their mark like Stanford dragon[0].
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_dragon
I'd say the Utah teapot is much better known in CG circles than the Stanford dragon.