When I was working at IBM and DuPont in the late 80's one of the first things I was tasked to do was compare and contrast the Xerox system PageMaker program vs. the new IBM OS/2 version of the same program for sales demos etc. I also worked with an Mac II system. I thought the OS/2 verson was easier to use. One of the things about Xerox back then was that there was nothing simple about the GUI, especially setting things up. Later at ICI I used a Xerox i386 system that we used to use to compile DOS-based applications (why my company did that I don't know). Soon after that Xerox was completely gone from the office environment. OS/2 never took off as an OS for desktop publishing but IBM did try. MAC was left alone by 1994. I was 24 years old and I had already worked at IBM, DuPont, ICI, Blue Cross and saw a huge raft of changes 1987-1994 was a huge transition time. I also worked with some XWindows DEC systems. On Mon, Aug 17, 2020 at 10:40 AM Andrew Diller via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
As I learn more about these systems and start to see them working, it's hard not to realize the folly Xerox engaged in here. They had not 1, not 2, but 3 entire hardware generations of systems (Alto->Dandelion->Daybreak) to refine the desktop and GUI application suite concept.
They controlled both the hardware and the software for these systems.
The _owned_ the copier / laser printer market- and could do anything they wanted in terms of output for these devices to paper.
They invented ethernet and had the whole interconnected network/office lan designed and done.
And then they let Apple come in... and with later help from Canon (LaserWriter) define and dominate the Desktop publishing market.. which Xerox had completely invented, refined deployed and had working (eating their own dog food) for years.
It's just astonishing when you consider the possibilities that Xerox had in 1983-86 and just completely punted on.
-andy
On Aug 17, 2020, at 10:26 AM, Dean Notarnicola < dean.notarnicola@vcfed.org> wrote:
Legend says Star, but Corey or Tony May have better info
On Mon, Aug 17, 2020 at 10:13 AM Andrew Diller via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote: I know DavidG has done some amazing work (along with other members) on VCF's 8010 (Dandelion)... And strangely enough the same day (yesterday) someone on the SGI Discord I frequent posted this amazing video, which I thought I'd share to interested people here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Dlr5rY9SI < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Dlr5rY9SI> < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Dlr5rY9SI < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Dlr5rY9SI>>
Of a Daybreak (Xerox 6085) booting up into ViewPoint 2.0 and using the apps. VCF also has a Daybreak which would be great to get fully functional again as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Daybreak < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Daybreak> < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Daybreak < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Daybreak>>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Star < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Star> < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Star < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Star>>
I'm not sure of the dates, but do people know if the Xerox Star would have been the system that Jobs and the Apple team viewed at Xerox back when they had their infamous visits? Or were those Altos?
-andy