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Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC This follows Alan Kay (as well as dozens of others) through their groundbreaking research at Xerox's research lab in Palo Alto

Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC This follows Alan Kay (as well as dozens of others) through their groundbreaking research at Xerox's research lab in Palo Alto, primarily during the 70s. You will learn how these visionaries and personalities were largely at war with themselves, while HQ (2,000 miles away) largely ignored any of their marvelous outputs... until it was too late. ---- I just checked this morning, and was shocked to see that XRX's total market cap is "only" $2B, when they could have been Apple computer [today ~$2,600B]. An interesting tidbit that many don't know about the Xerox/Apple relationship was that Steve Jobs was allowed into the facility, on two separate tours, because he offered Xerox preferred stock in the then-upcoming Apple IPO — which they then held on to for less than a few years.

AtlasBarfed 3y ago
PARC (at least the UI that came out of it) is replicable in terms of a new UI paradigm: The virtual headset is criminally underutilized. How much is computer interface restricted by the little window (even a 4k TV) we get as the view into the computer? The promise to me of a VR headset UI is having an arbitrary amount of real estate to display information (and not just 2D!) And here's the thing about a good VR UI: it wouldn't just be the visible! Your brain can track the location of things subconsciously, so the log tailing window, the metrics window, that upload/download/file copy status window, can all be in some area you turn your head to glance at to get occasional information on. Because the PARC UI's windowing system is designed to help out with the "limited viewport": it already recognized that people will do more applications/tasks than there is visible screen space, so you need an overlaid windowing system. But right now, facebook is the sociopaths in control of VR headsets, so ... we'll be waiting for a while. The talk is so refreshing, so indicative of research in the 1960s. I think in retrospect from listening to the talk is that all researchers had to do was the possible. What they didn't have to think about was the consequences of technology. That is not the world we live in now. It is apparent that we are a civilization facing the Fermi Paradox/Great Filter. He alluded to it in the human evolution and human organizations part of the intro, but it is fundamentally structured around post-WWII viewpoint, not the modern view where literally every person's consumption is a step towards collective destruction.
- ProllyInfamous 3y ago
  I'm excited to see if Apple's entry into this market (with AVP) will encourage more OEMs to explore these emersive computing environments [as the iPhone did with smart phones]. >the modern view where literally every person's consumption is a step towards collective destruction. This is just one POV. From a fiat capitalist POV, consumption is essential to prevent collective destruction... although I agree more with your POV. Thanks for the great comment.
morphle 3y ago
Alan thinks [0] "The Dream Machine" book [1] is the only accurate and good book on Xerox PARC. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22379275 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22379275 [1] The Dream Machine" by M. Mitchell Waldrop
- ProllyInfamous 3y ago
  Wow, thanks for both links! From Alan's HN/u comment, it does still appear that Dealers of Lightning is a worthwhile read ("nowhere near the bottom"—A.Kay), just confusing (chronologically) at times [I agree]. I've added Dream Machine to my reading list (but will wait a year, as I just finished Dealer's Lightning early 2024).
morphle 3y ago
Xerox made a ROI of 20000% on the laser printer alone [1]. A better version lecture Alan did for Ycombinator startups [2] but doesn't focus on the return of investment. Xerox did shrink a bit since then. [1] https://youtu.be/NdSD07U5uBs?t=1828 https://youtu.be/NdSD07U5uBs?t=1828 [2] https://youtu.be/1e8VZlPBx_0?t=975 https://youtu.be/1e8VZlPBx_0?t=975
- ProllyInfamous 3y ago
  From my few hours of research on Xerox PARC, the laser printer did make a huge return (as you note, correctly); it's just "typical Xerox" that the engineers who invented LASER printing (i.e. using a laser to scan) also had to sit on their invention for years because the executive/sales teams didn't believe in an already-functional technology (the first decade of Xerox "non-ink printers" used visible light; the laser literally had to be forced into the Xerox equipment by R&D..!

AtlasBarfed 3y ago

PARC (at least the UI that came out of it) is replicable in terms of a new UI paradigm: The virtual headset is criminally underutilized. How much is computer interface restricted by the little window (even a 4k TV) we get as the view into the computer? The promise to me of a VR headset UI is having an arbitrary amount of real estate to display information (and not just 2D!) And here's the thing about a good VR UI: it wouldn't just be the visible! Your brain can track the location of things subconsciously, so the log tailing window, the metrics window, that upload/download/file copy status window, can all be in some area you turn your head to glance at to get occasional information on. Because the PARC UI's windowing system is designed to help out with the "limited viewport": it already recognized that people will do more applications/tasks than there is visible screen space, so you need an overlaid windowing system. But right now, facebook is the sociopaths in control of VR headsets, so ... we'll be waiting for a while. The talk is so refreshing, so indicative of research in the 1960s. I think in retrospect from listening to the talk is that all researchers had to do was the possible. What they didn't have to think about was the consequences of technology. That is not the world we live in now. It is apparent that we are a civilization facing the Fermi Paradox/Great Filter. He alluded to it in the human evolution and human organizations part of the intro, but it is fundamentally structured around post-WWII viewpoint, not the modern view where literally every person's consumption is a step towards collective destruction.

ProllyInfamous 3y ago
I'm excited to see if Apple's entry into this market (with AVP) will encourage more OEMs to explore these emersive computing environments [as the iPhone did with smart phones]. >the modern view where literally every person's consumption is a step towards collective destruction. This is just one POV. From a fiat capitalist POV, consumption is essential to prevent collective destruction... although I agree more with your POV. Thanks for the great comment.

morphle 3y ago

Alan thinks [0] "The Dream Machine" book [1] is the only accurate and good book on Xerox PARC. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22379275 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22379275 [1] The Dream Machine" by M. Mitchell Waldrop

ProllyInfamous 3y ago
Wow, thanks for both links! From Alan's HN/u comment, it does still appear that Dealers of Lightning is a worthwhile read ("nowhere near the bottom"—A.Kay), just confusing (chronologically) at times [I agree]. I've added Dream Machine to my reading list (but will wait a year, as I just finished Dealer's Lightning early 2024).

morphle 3y ago

Xerox made a ROI of 20000% on the laser printer alone [1]. A better version lecture Alan did for Ycombinator startups [2] but doesn't focus on the return of investment. Xerox did shrink a bit since then. [1] https://youtu.be/NdSD07U5uBs?t=1828 https://youtu.be/NdSD07U5uBs?t=1828 [2] https://youtu.be/1e8VZlPBx_0?t=975 https://youtu.be/1e8VZlPBx_0?t=975

ProllyInfamous 3y ago
From my few hours of research on Xerox PARC, the laser printer did make a huge return (as you note, correctly); it's just "typical Xerox" that the engineers who invented LASER printing (i.e. using a laser to scan) also had to sit on their invention for years because the executive/sales teams didn't believe in an already-functional technology (the first decade of Xerox "non-ink printers" used visible light; the laser literally had to be forced into the Xerox equipment by R&D..!