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True, but it was a larger issue than just Steve Jobs. If you read the histories of those who did great work at PARC, it appears that Xerox had NO way to commerc

True, but it was a larger issue than just Steve Jobs. If you read the histories of those who did great work at PARC, it appears that Xerox had NO way to commercialize their work: * Apple, Microsoft, GEM, Amiga, etc, etc all shipped the GUI * 3Com, Cisco, etc, etc, all shipped Ethernet * HP, Canon, etc, etc all shipped laser printers. (Xerox did too on the VERY hight end, mostly as part of a copier) PARC's Team actively moved to or started firms that shipped their ideas.

leejoramo 6y ago
And to the original question, I have read that the leadership of Xerox was resistant to technology that could hurt photocopier sales. The Wikipedia page on PARC gives a good overview of the technologies they helped develop, including hardware, software, and development methods. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARC_%28company%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARC_%28company%29
matt_s 6y ago
Counterpoint is that they picked one thing (laser printing) out of the dozens of ideas coming out of PARC and capitalized on it to the point that they were found to be a monopoly [0] and forced to license their patents [1]. Watch Alan Kay's "How to Invent The Future" talks from Stanford about this [2] and he talks in more depth. I don't think any company could have built products around all of the ideas that came out of there and been successful, they would have been focused on too many things. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/11/archives/jury-finds-monopoly-by-xerox-but-verdict-may-reduce-scms-damage.html https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/11/archives/jury-finds-monop... [1] https://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/31/archives/xerox-settlement-is-approved-by-ftc.html https://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/31/archives/xerox-settlement... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id1WShzzMCQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id1WShzzMCQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8VZlPBx_0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8VZlPBx_0

leejoramo 6y ago

And to the original question, I have read that the leadership of Xerox was resistant to technology that could hurt photocopier sales. The Wikipedia page on PARC gives a good overview of the technologies they helped develop, including hardware, software, and development methods. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARC_%28company%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARC_%28company%29

matt_s 6y ago

Counterpoint is that they picked one thing (laser printing) out of the dozens of ideas coming out of PARC and capitalized on it to the point that they were found to be a monopoly [0] and forced to license their patents [1]. Watch Alan Kay's "How to Invent The Future" talks from Stanford about this [2] and he talks in more depth. I don't think any company could have built products around all of the ideas that came out of there and been successful, they would have been focused on too many things. [0] https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/11/archives/jury-finds-monopoly-by-xerox-but-verdict-may-reduce-scms-damage.html https://www.nytimes.com/1978/07/11/archives/jury-finds-monop... [1] https://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/31/archives/xerox-settlement-is-approved-by-ftc.html https://www.nytimes.com/1975/07/31/archives/xerox-settlement... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id1WShzzMCQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id1WShzzMCQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8VZlPBx_0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8VZlPBx_0