Computing gets personal - The Computing Universe: A Journey through a Revolution - page 143

Fig. 8.2. A concept sketch for Metcalf
and Bogg's Ethernet. Their original
Ethernet report observed: “Just as com-
puter networks have grown across conti-
nents and oceans to interconnect major
computing facilities . . . they are now
growing down corridors and between
buildings to interconnect minicomput-
ers in offices and laboratories.” F1

Other Ethernets

Work Station

Processor

Computer

Gateway

Filling

Ethernet cable

Ethernet Mulitplexer

Ty ping
systems

Electronic Printer

Te rminals

Work Station

Printers

Every time you click a mouse on an icon or open overlapping windows on
your computer screen today, you are using technology invented at PARC.
Compose a document by word processor, and your words reach the display via
software invented at PARC. Make the print larger or smaller, replace ordinary
typewriter letters with a Braggadocio or Gothic typeface - that's technology
invented at PARC, as is the means by which a keystroke speeds the finished
document by cable or infrared link to a laser printer. The laser printer, too,
was invented at PARC. 4

Why then was Xerox not at the heart of the personal computer revolution?
The answer is complicated, but ultimately Xerox failed to fully exploit the
amazing inventions of its PARC researchers and missed a huge opportunity
to create a new computing paradigm. Nevertheless, just one of PARC's inven-
tions, the laser printer, generated billions of dollars in revenue for the com-
pany, many times more than its total investment in PARC ( Fig. 8.2 ). But there
could have been so much more ( Fig. 8.3 ). This wonderful burst of creativity
at Xerox PARC took place in the early 1970s. The personal computer revolu-
tion arrived by a different route and was triggered by the arrival of cheap and
powerful microprocessors, an enthusiastic community of computer hobby-
ists, and four remarkable young entrepreneurs without a university degree
between them!

The Altair and Microsoft

In January 1975, an editorial in the magazine Popular Electronics proudly
announced the arrival of the world's first “home computer” ( Fig. 8.4 ):

For many years, we've been reading and hearing about how computers will
one day be a household item. Therefore, we're especially proud to present in
this issue the first commercial type of minicomputer project ever published