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ross_guy t1_j0z16cu wrote

Reply to comment by ahfoo in How the Graphical User Interface Was Invented by fchung

That’s interesting. My understanding was that Xerox had the know-how to create several groundbreaking technologies we take for granted in computing today, but they had zero idea on how to implement and market them to the public. This is why they invited people like Jobs and Gates to take a look at what was going on at Hyde Park.

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ahfoo t1_j0z6t3h wrote

No, fuck no. That's nonsense. Jobs and Gates and NEC as well as other Japanese interests rushed in to grab a piece of the action when the courts forced it open. It was only because of the Xerox consent decree that any of this stuff ever made it to the public.

The fact you don't know about this is interesting in itself. It used to be widely known but it's interesting how people's opinions have been shaped over time to create this ridiculous narrative. It's actually hard to even find the original documentation anymore because so much effort has gone into hiding it.

But you can still find good info on it but unfortunately much of it is paywalled which is how the ignorance is manufactured:

[The 1975 Xerox Consent Decree: Ancient Artifacts and Current Tensions] (https://www.jstor.org/stable/40843504)

If you search around you can find a copy which goes into what really happened.

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suhcoR t1_j1hk143 wrote

That's very interesting, thanks. I have dealt a lot with Smalltalk and (untrue) myths about PARC, but in fact I was not familiar with this one.

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