Before the Mac There was the Alto: An Amazing Commercial from the 70s

Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 25, 2012 in Tech

Xerox Parc - Office Alto Commercial

Shown below is an amazing commercial from the 70s for the Xerox Alto: This amazing computer was first released in 1973 and featured all the cool features we associate with the PC today like a graphic user interface, a mouse and desktop publishing. While the the computer was a commercial failure, it went on to inspire the Macintosh in the the 80s and Windows in the 90s. Read more…

Tags: 1973, Apple, Xerox

Leonardo’s Presentation: Could Dr. Who Have Saved Xerox?

Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 20, 2009 in Tech

I came across this commercial for the Xerox Publishing System from 1986 and it got me to thinking: It’s commonly accepted wisdom that Xerox did too little too late with the innovations that were generated at their PARC research facility (user interface, ethernet and laser printing) which is why Apple was able to have their breakthrough. Looking back on it that’s true, but I think the missing lesson is price point as much as speed to market. Read more…

Tags: 1986, Apple, Desktop Publishing, PARC, WYSIWYG, Xerox