CHM Live | Yesterday's Computer of Tomorrow: The Xerox Alto

[Recorded November 10, 2017]

Program
05:22 Bravo Demo with Tom Malloy & Charles Simonyi
22:15 Markup and Draw Demo with Bob Sproull
39:42 Laurel Demo with Doug Brotz
55:15 Smalltalk Demo with Dan Ingalls
01:14:13 Presentation by John Shoch
01:36:28 CHM Alto Restoration Project Video
01:39:55 Q&A

How did personal computing start? Many credit Apple and IBM for this radical shift, but in 1973, years before the Apple II and IBM PC, Xerox built the Alto, a computer its makers thought could become the “computer of tomorrow.” The Alto embodied for the first time many of the defining features of personal computing that seem natural now, over forty years later: individual use; interactive, graphical displays; networking; graphical interfaces with overlapping windows and icons; WYSIWYG word processing; browsers; email; and the list goes on. The birthplace of this pioneering machine was Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), which assembled a remarkable collection of computer scientists and engineers who made real their idea of “distributed personal computing.”

Original members of the PARC team present live demonstrations of, and discuss, some of the Alto’s remarkable achievements: Tom Malloy and Charles Simonyi presents Bravo, the WYSIWYG word processor; Bob Sproull shows the graphics programs Markup and Draw; Doug Brotz displays the email client Laurel; Dan Ingalls reveals the breakthrough programming environment and language Smalltalk; and John Shoch surveys the Alto’s other accomplishments. Our program closes with an audience Q&A session with the PARC presenters. The event is moderated by David C. Brock, Director of the Museum’s Center for Software History. This is a unique opportunity to learn about yesterday’s computer of tomorrow that profoundly shaped our world.

Lot number: X8383.2018
Catalog number: 102738587