(Yes, even the thing you’re reading this on)
If you’ve ever dragged a file into a folder, clicked on a window, or used a mouse…
You owe a thank you, not to Apple.
Not to Google.
But to a place called Xerox PARC.
You read that right. Xerox. As in printers.
Let me explain; because this is one of those stories that’ll make you want to yell “HOW DID NOBODY TELL ME THIS IN SCHOOL?”
So What Was Xerox PARC?
Back in the 1970s, Xerox created the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), a place where some of the smartest engineers and computer scientists just… vibed. Their job was to invent the future.
(And I’m not being dramatic. They really did.)
This one lab gave us:
- The graphical user interface (GUI)
- The mouse
- Ethernet
- The laser printer
- The idea of object-oriented programming
- Bitmaps
- WYSIWYG editors (What You See Is What You Get, aka every doc you’ve ever typed)
- A personal computer called the Alto that looked like something from 2001: A Tech Odyssey
Imagine working in a place where all those inventions were happening at once. Wild.
So Where Does Apple Come In?
Well, Steve Jobs visited Xerox PARC in 1979. And when he saw the Alto, the mouse, the desktop interface, and windows that you could drag and click?
He had a full-on tech revelation. He took those ideas, and ran like he stole something. (Which… technically, he didn’t. Xerox gave Apple permission in exchange for shares.)
But here’s the kicker: Xerox didn’t capitalize on ANY of it. They had all these game-changing ideas and still somehow… stuck to making printers.
It’s Giving “We Had It First” Energy
Reading about PARC honestly made me laugh and cry at the same time.
Because sometimes in tech, having the idea isn’t enough, you have to know how to ship it. To market it. To sell it. To make people see it. And Xerox just… didn’t.
Apple? They saw it. And more importantly, they told the story.
Why I Wrote This
As a developer, I get excited about building things. But sometimes, I forget how many brilliant ideas never see the light of day because they weren’t positioned right. Or because someone didn’t realize their power at the time.
Xerox PARC is a perfect example of how:
- Vision alone doesn’t change the world.
- Execution does.
- And storytelling? Storytelling is everything.
Let’s keep learning from the legends who came before us, even if their companies were accidentally sitting on goldmines.
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