The Influence of the Research Conducted at Xerox PARC on the Modern Day Personal Computer - Essay Example

Explain the influence of the research conducted at Xerox PARC on the modern day personal computer. Question Introduction In 1970, Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) was opened. They gathered some of the world's best researchers who created the Alto computer. The Alto was easy to use and unlike other computers at the had networking abilities, a bit-mapped screen, data storage, and the mouse allowed users to move to any point on the screen without having to scroll. The bit-mapping led to the creation of the GUI, which led to applications with WYSIWYG editing and overlapping windows. Body Past Developments Alto Computer (1973/1980) Graphical User Interface (GUI) WYSIWYG Editing Bit-Mapped Display Overlapping Windows Mouse Ethernet (1973/1980) Laser Printers (1972-1977) Page Description Languages Ubiquitous Computing (picture of hand-helds) MobileDocs (1993-1999) LiveWorks (1990-1996) Uppercase (1997-1998) Amorphous Silicon (a-Si) Thin-Film Transistors Ultra-high Resolution Flat-Panel Displays (1989-1998) Digital X-Ray System (1990/1996) Flash Scanners (1993) Multibeam Lasers (1986-1995) DocuPrint (1993) (picture of screen shot) Current Research Micro-Scale Devices Smart Matter Integrated Systems Biomedical Sciences Mobile & Wireless Image Processing Document Content Conclusion In 2004, in partnership with Scripps, they tested the FAST (Fiber Array Scanning Technology) Cytometer to screen the blood of a small number of patients for tumor cells associated with cancer. (See PARC History) They have also partnered with SolFocus, Inc. to develop new concentrator photovoltaic systems, which may lead to the creation of less-expensive solar power. References Cringely, Robert X. Accidental Empires. New York: Harper, 1992. Xerox. PARC Fact Sheet. 2006. Online. Internet. 15 May 2006. Available: http://www.parc.xerox.com/about/factsheet.html. Xerox. PARC History. 2006. Online. Internet. 15 May 2006. Available: http://www,parc.xerox.com/about/history/. Question 2 Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are visionaries who helped to create the world of personal computers and computing as we know it today. Without both of their ideas, and their willingness to risk it all for those ideas, personal computers might not have become a staple in many homes throughout the world. Their enthusiasm proved to be infectious and as time has shown well merited. They were able to take the ideas and works of others and refine them, build upon them, and make them their own. If Steve Jobs had never gone to PARC users of computers wouldn't be able to point and click with their mice. If Bill Gates had not bought Seattle Computer Products' QDOS there would not has been MS-DOS and IBM's PCs might not have become such a big success. There biggest commonality is their ability to sell semi-functional products to people and make them believe that they got their money's worth. Apple's first computers crashed with some regularity and many people joke about having to open and close Windows to make it work. But people kept buying their products, knowing that they didn't function fully or properly because these men were dynamic salesmen. They were the P.T. Barnum's of the personal computing industry. These are just a few of their similarities, but they are two very different people, as is proven by the paths their lives have taken since their careers began. Steve Jobs is said to be attitudinal, conceited, and cruel to underlings, as is Bill Gates according to former staff members and writers, but Job's attitude has forced him to keep moving from company to company and idea to idea. His attitude and behavior forced him out of a project he was leading at Apple and led to his being forced into an office with nothing to do. Jobs' antinetworking attitude may have held him back from being a bigger success. Though the Next computer, introduced in 1988, had built in Ethernet networking capabilities, his insistence "that the proper use of his computer was to transfer data on a removable disk," led to his refusing orders for NeXT computers to buyers who were going to store data from other computers on them. (Cringely 222) He is a purist who is willing to put his money where his mouth is and though that can be a benefit in some businesses, in the computer world, where flexibility is a must, it has cost him credibility and many dollars. Bill Gates has, according to Robert X. Cringely, in his book Accidental Empires, made Microsoft a successful company by using mind-manipulation on his employees. He seems to have worked that magic on consumers too, buy getting them to buy not just one version of the less-than-perfect product Windows, but every version since its inception. His stated goal of "a computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software," has led him to try and monopolize the software industry. This attitude has also landed him in court in the US. He is less willing to share his fortune with the less fortunate than Jobs, who has shown strong charitable support in the past. His money, attitude, and his methods of doing business have made him unpopular with many people. Cringely has described Gates as a "megalomaniac" and Jobs as a "sociopath" but these traits have enabled them to succeed in the personal computing industry. (Cringely x) Neither of them has given up in the face of negative criticism or publicity and they are both successful in their own rights. Question 3 There are many ways to reduce online writing. First, make notes or an outline so that you know what you are going to say or ask. In a class situation this is really helpful because it speeds up the line of communication. A good example would be writing down a question from your previous session in class so that you word it to be easily understood by the instructor and others students. Another means of keeping writing to a minimum is to use short easy-to- read sentences and paragraphs. The more jargon you use the harder it is for readers to understand and respond quickly. You can also limit your writing to two screens of text. This should be enough to get your message across. Keep responses short and to get your meaning across to others you can also use emoticons to express body language the others can't see so that your meaning is understood. By mentioning people by name and referring to their comments you can keep online responses flowing smoothly and eliminate having to respond to others. Read More