Dealers of Lightning
|
"Read this book. A treat for anyone with
even a passing interest in the origins of
today's siliconized culture."
In the bestselling tradition
of
The Soul of a New Machine, Dealers of Lightning is
a fascinating journey of intellectual creation. In the 1970s and '8os, Xerox
Corporation brought together a brain-trust of engineering geniuses, a group of computer eccentrics dubbed PARC. This brilliant group created several monumental
innovations that triggered
a
technological revolution, including the first personal
computer, the laser printer, and the graphical interface (one of the main precursors
of the Internet), only to see these breakthroughs rejected by the corporation. Yet,
instead of giving up, these determined inventors turned their ideas into empires that
radically altered contemporary
life and
changed the world.
Based on extensive interviews with the scientists, engineers, administrators, and
executives who lived the story, this riveting chronicle details PARC's humble beginnings through its triumph as a hothouse for ideas, and shows why Xerox was never
able to grasp, and ultimately exploit, the cutting-edge innovations PARC delivered.
Dealers of Lightning
offers
an
unprecedented look at the ideas, the inventions, and
the individuals that propelled Xerox PARC to the frontier of techno-history—and the
corporate machinations that almost prevented it from achieving greatness.
"A veritable ripsnorter... a great read that's
also a must read."
—Business 2.0
Michael A. Hiltzik
is
a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has
worked for the
Los Angeles Times
as
a financial, political, and foreign correspondent
and as a technology writer and editor. He lives in Los Alamitos, California.
HarperBusiness
An Imprint of
HarperCollins
Publishers
ISBN 0-88730-989-5
www.harpcrcollins.c
om
dealers of lightning
Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age
From a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist comes this riveting, true story of an extraordinary group of inventors
who
brought about a technological revolution that would change the
world.
In
the bestselling tradition
of
The Soul Of A
New Machine
and
Accidental Empires, Dealers of Lightning
is
a
fascinating journey of intellectual creation. In the 1970s and '80s,
Xerox
Corporation brought together a braintrust of engineering
geniuses,
a group of computer eccentrics dubbed PARC.
This brilliant
group would create several monumental innovations including the
first
personal computer, the laser printer, and the graphical interface
(one
of the main precursors to the Internet) only to see these
breakthroughs
rejected by the corporation.
Yet
instead of giving up, these determined inventors turned their ideas into empires that would radically alter contemporary life and change the world. Based on extensive interviews with the people who lived the story, this riveting chronicle details PARC's beginnings through its triumph as a hothouse for ideas, and shows why
Xerox
was never able to grasp and ultimately exploit the cutting-edge innovations
PARC
delivered.
"Superb.
A
gem of a story that has never before been so well told."
—New York Times Book Review
"Read this book. A treat for anyone with even a passing interest in the
origins of today's siliconized culture." —
Business Week
DEALERS
OF
LIGHTNING
Xerox PARC and
the Dawn of the Computer Age
A HarperBusiness Book
from HarperPerennial
A hardcover edition of this book was published in 1999 by HarperBusiness,
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Copyright
©
1999 by Michael Hiltzik. All rights
reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book
may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles
and reviews. For information address HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 10
East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022.
HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales
promotional use. For information please write: Special Markets
Department, HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New
York, NY 10022.
First paperback edition published 2000.
Designed by Jennie Malcolm
The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:
Hiltzik, Michael A.
Dealers of lightning
:
Xerox PARC and the dawn of the computer age
/
Michael Hiltzik.
—
1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-88730-891-0
1.
Computer science
—
Research—California
—
Palo Alto
—
History.
2. Xerox Corporation. Palo Alto Research Center
—
History. I. Title.
QA76.27.H55 1999
004' .0720794' 73—dc2
1
98-47043
ISBN 0-88730-989-5 (pbk.)
Contents
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Cast of Characters
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