History of Computers - Xerox PARC
Page by: Evan Woodham
In 1970, Xerox Corporation formed a world-class team in information and physical sciences to become the “Architects of Information”, establishing the company’s Palo Alto research center under Dr. George Pake. The object of this was to create “the office of the future.”[1]
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| PARC's current logo |
Contents
Overview
From the 70’s through the 80’s, PARC was the leader in technological innovation, making constant technological breakthroughs. However, from the mid to late 90’s, Xerox PARC fell behind as the lead technological development center, as other centers opened up.[1] In the 1970s Xerox PARC invented laser printers. However, Xerox missed a significant market opportunity in 1983 when they turned down Cannon's offer to partner on the development of a desktop laser printer. Cannon eventually partnered with HP who now dominates the desktop laser printer market.[3] In 2002, PARC became an independent company in order to “broaden its ability to innovate, build breakthrough technology platforms, and develop business concepts for many different organizations.”[1] Xerox PARC has created a wide range of technologies, from biomedical to the internet. Some of the things that PARC has created are the internet, viruses, programming language, fiber optics, collaborative filtering online, the precursor to Microsoft Word, Ethernet, computer painting, one of the first portable computers (History of Computers- Xerox Notetaker) Laser printing, and GUI. PARC continues to work on inventions.[1]
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PARC when it was owned by Xerox |
Significance
Xerox PARC invented many of the advanced things that we use today, such as blood sample testers, the Internet, viruses, and accelerated the advances in computers.
Links
[[1]] PARC history [[2]] All about PARC [[3]] second image [[4]] first image
