Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!hc!pprg.unm.edu!unmvax!ncar!boulder!sunybcs!rutgers!bellcore!texbell!uhnix1!sugar!ficc!peter
From: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: Re: replacing the desktop metaphor
Keywords: desktop metaphor, graphical interfaces, computing environments
Message-ID: <2600@ficc.uu.net>
Date: 3 Jan 89 13:41:48 GMT
References: <4361@pitt.UUCP> <688@krafla.rhi.hi.is> <9943@gryphon.COM> <2913@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Organization: Xenix Support
Lines: 24

Myth #1:

> } .Why is it Apple allways given credit for the desktop idea,
> } .they copied it from XEROX's Smalltalk project!

No, this is a myth. The desktop idea came from the Xerox Star office
automation system.

Myth #2:

> because they were the first outfit that felt it was worth marketing.

This is a myth. The Xerox Star was a commercial product. I was blown
away by it when I saw it at NCC 82.

Apple gets the credit because they took a small fraction of the functionality
of the Star and crammed it into a 128K machine that could be sold cheaply
enough to compete with PCs. They still haven't brought it up to the standard
of the original.
-- 
Peter da Silva, Xenix Support, Ferranti International Controls Corporation.
Work: uunet.uu.net!ficc!peter, peter@ficc.uu.net, +1 713 274 5180.   `-_-'
Home: bigtex!texbell!sugar!peter, peter@sugar.uu.net.                 'U`
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