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The contrast between what Xerox was doing at PARC versus what they sold to the public was astounding. While they were inventing the future at PARC, the system t
by flyinghamster 8y ago
The contrast between what Xerox was doing at PARC versus what they sold to the public was astounding. While they were inventing the future at PARC, the system they were selling was the 820, a me-too Z80 CP/M system that was released just as the world was going to 16-bit systems.
- thinkling 8y agoIt may be worth considering that Apple’s first take on the Xerox ideas was the Lisa, not exactly a big sales success. It took two rounds of refining the PARC ideas (Lisa, then Mac) to come to a somewhat-viable product. The Mac was still very expensive and didn’t sell that well for years. Xerox could have tried to productize the Star for the mass market but it doesn’t seem like a wild claim to say they would have failed and we’d still have waited for the Amiga.