Computer History Museum - Lectures - The Xerox Star Runs One More Time

Bay Area Computer History Perspectives and Computer History Museum present:

"The Xerox Star Runs One More Time"

5:30 PM, Wednesday, June 17, 1998 Auditorium Xerox Palo Alto Research Center 3333 Coyote Hill Road Palo Alto


With:

David Curbow, Sun Microsystems David Liddle, Interval Research David Smith, Stagecraft Software

Robert Belleville, Clock maker Robert Garner, Sun Microsystems

Seventeen years ago, the computer interface technology we take for granted today was new and strange, difficult even to describe. These quotes from a 1981 Xerox Star brochure show how people were fumbling for words to describe the new computer desktop technology: "Objects displayed on the Xerox 8010 screen are freely movable using the hand-held pointer, or 'mouse' ... this unique digital pointer ... will also initiate sequences for the relocation, copying, and deletion of material, and the retrieval and transmission of documents." "The iconographic symbols ... bear labels which identify them as folders, in- and out-baskets, file drawers, and other accessories comprising what amounts to an 'electronic desk top'." "Abstractly speaking, the spreadsheet expresses variable dependencies over time. It is basically an electronic matrix with a full menu of matrix manipulation tools." Mice, folders, and spreadsheets were all new and strange to the marketplace. Even who exactly was going to use the computer wasn't always clear. This talk will feature a Star running, with commentary. The display will be shown on a wide video screen for the entire audience. Eleven other Stars behind the scenes are being used for parts to keep this one machine running, and this could be the last occasion ever to see a Star run.

David Liddle directed the Star development effort, and will provide an overview. David Curbow and David Smith will do a demonstration of the user interface, and then Robert Belleville and Robert Garner will discuss the Star hardware---which was also innovative.

These talks are sponsored by

Computer History Museum

and

Sun Microsystems



Directions:

Directions to Xerox PARC in Palo Alto:
From Highway 101---take the Oregon Expressway exit west 2 miles to El Camino Real. Oregon Expressway becomes Page Mill Road at El Camino Real. Follow Page Mill Road another 1.7 miles to Coyote Hill Road (no light), just past Foothill Exprwy, and turn left. Proceed 1/2 mile up Coyote Hill Road, over the top of the hill, to PARC. Follow the signs to the auditorium.

From Highway 280---take the Page Mill Road exit. Go east one mile on Page Mill, and then turn right on Coyote Hill Road (no light). Proceed 1/2 mile on Coyote Hill Road, over the top of the hill, and PARC will be on your left. Follow the signs to the auditorium.