A fascinating account of the invention of the personal computer at a Xerox research facility in the 1970s. Hiltzik's book explains how over the course of ten years some of the world's foremost computer scientists invented almost every feature that we have come to associate with personal computing--overlapping windows, "what you see is what you get" word processing, the desktop, high speed printing, connection to an Ethernet, point and click technology, the ubiquity of the mouse, and the use of icons as opposed to coding. What's most fascinating is how Hiltzik details the creative process that led to these inventions, specifically how so many of them built off each other and the spirit of competition within the lab that resulted in great leaps forward. While the author is occasionally too worshipful of his subjects, it's not hard to see why with the cast of characters he has to work with. Heavily featured in the book are Bob Taylor (the man who ran the department of the Pentagon that literally invented the Internet), and Alan Kay (a research scientist whose dissertation anticipated by more than 30 years the hand held computer technology that Apple would bring to fruition with its Ipad), two of the most important individuals in the history of personal computing. While it may sound as though this book is written exclusively for those with an interest in or knowledge of computers, that is not the case. Much of the book explores the tensions between Xerox's corporate headquarters and PARC management in addition to the rivalries between and among the departments at PARC. What's more, I have an incredibly rudimentary understanding of technology and almost every aspect of this book made sense to me (with the exception of object oriented programming--I'm still not sure what that is or why it's important and I've done further reading on it). This is a good book for anyone interested in notions of creativity and invention.
"The theory of second systems was formulated by an IBM executive named Frederick Brooks, whose career supervising large-scale software teams taught him that designers of computer systems tend to build into their second projects all the pet features that tight finances or short deadlines forced them to leave out of their first. The result is an overgrown, inefficient monstrosity that rarely works as expected. As he put it in his pithy masterpiece, The Mythical Man-Month: 'The second system is the most dangerous system a man ever designs.'" (74)"Yet to chalk up the mixed fate of PARC's technologies purely to Xerox's blundering, as has been done for many years, is misleading. It encourages others to believe that the commercializing of advanced new technologies is easy, provided only that one has the will to do so; and that a company's early domination of a high-tech market will reward it with an unassailable competitive advantage for decades to follow. It presupposes that a corporation should invariably be able to recoup its investment in all its basic research -- a mindset bound to lead not to more effective corporate-funded basic research but simply to less of it." (390)
And I thought the book on Steve Jobs was an entertaining read! The long list of innovations at PARC in the 1970's is stunning and captured my attention, making it a book I finished very quickly. Also, the author sheds light on why PARC was able to achieve what it did as well as provide a more reasonable perspective on why Xerox struggled to take advantage of PARC's innovations. The chapter on Steve Jobs visiting PARC gives a more believable account of what actually happened, instead of the simplistic "How Steve Jobs raided Xerox" myth.
—Unjmhy
(4.0) Great subject, stayed focused on the engineering, the projects (mostly)I appreciate that Hiltzik stayed focused (more or less) on the actual engineering and creative projects, (vs What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry, in which I think more time was spent on the (counter-)culture, the hippiness, everything going on around PARC at the time). We get threads of history, usually told through the projects (the Alto, the laser printer, superpaint etc.), though toward the end he shifted to following individuals and the politics they encountered as PARC started to unwind.Learned a ton of cool history, including where some of the early PARC buildings are.
—Brian
Fascinating history of PARC and the people who made it the world's leading computer science research center in the 1970s. Does not specifically unpack the factors that made PARC excel, but contains enough information about its successes to draw broader lessons about creating conditions conducive to breakthrough R&D. - Hire the best people- Give them a long leash- Force them to interact Ethernet is a good example -- Bob Metcalfe was stringing coaxial cable through the PARC basement when he bumped into a colleague (Boggs?) with better soldering skills. The two of them collaborated on what became one of the critical pieces of networking hardware. This book is also a pseudo-biography of Bob Taylor (a true hedgehog in the Tetlock schema). Taylor's focus on developing a personal computer (the Alto) led to one of PARC's biggest breakthroughs. However, Taylor's management style (and "hedgehog-ness") probably precluded PARC from fully benefiting from the interaction potential inherent in the PARC labs (SSL, GSL, CSL, etc). Also debunks the myth that PARC "failed" (that Apple, Microsoft, and others ate its lunch with the personal computer, GUI design, etc).An enjoyable read, but could have been shortened.
—Peter
