Tag: Xerox Alto

Today, I came across this blog post on Ken Shirriff’s blog where he describes how to print a Christmas card on an IBM 1401 mainframe, a pretty popular low-end computer sold throughout the 60’s. Driven by the Reddit’s Retrobattlestation challenge for this month, the blog post is super interesting not only for the Xmas card itself but because it gives us a…

It is well known the myth (or truth!?) that Steve Jobs stole all Xerox ideas of a GUI (Graphical User Interface) from its Xerox Alto computer. Although the whole story is debatable, it is a fact that the Xerox Alto was the precursor of the user interface we still use today, almost unchanged. It was published earlier this month of…

Episode 129 of the Retro Computing Roundtable is out. Their hot topic for the month: Was the tech in the 80’s better than today? Was the 80’s tech better, or do you prefer today’s offerings? What did you love about the 80’s tech, and what do you miss? I think we all know the answer to that one. Anyway, looks…

If you are using Windows, OSX or any Linux graphical interface you are using the product of a groundbreaking project from the early 70’s, the Xerox Alto. The Alto was the first computer designed around a graphical user interface and introduced Ethernet and the laser printer[1] to the world. This article published on Ken Shirriff’s blog talks about the Alto and its impact…