Alto

from WinCustomize Forums
Apple has the name of having the first graphical user interface that comes with a mouse and in the artical "The PC at the cross-roads" nice pictures of the Lisa show that innovative machine. Although the artical does not offer a complete history (it wasn't the intention of that article), it amazes me that people often forget who invented the graphical user interface and mouse. It would be nice if the articles showed a picture of the Xerox Alto from the seventees. Not a real PC, because it was more a research project than a commercial success, but it set the standard. Also its price tag was a bit high ($32,000). However, if you are interested try the following link:

http://members.fortunecity.com/pcmuseum/alto.html

Too bad that there are not many screen shots left to use it for a skin
5,674 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I can remember someone posting a link to old OS screenshots in some thread here some time ago, including the first GUI (if I'm not mistaken).

What surprises (when I found out) me is that the pen was invented much earlier than the mouse. You know, those pens with which you could point out things on the screen and such. Sort of a prehistoric Wacom.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It is strange how people tend to totally forget about Xerox's innovation for the GUI. And yes I remember making one of the point locator pens from parts at Radio Shack for my atari 800 back in the days of cassette tape drives for storing files. Wish I still had that thing laying around for it looked like a Cross pen that went thru an electronic blender.
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Xerox PARC did a lot of inventions and pioneered the GUI. However most modern hardware (including the mouse and the electronic pen) and software concepts (like windows, menus, icons and hypertext) were invented by another ancient company: SRI. They showed a computer with all these innovations (together with an audio and video interface for remote conferencing) in 1968!

http://www.eetimes.com/special/special_issues/millennium/companies/sri.html
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
My gawd! But if I'm not mistaken, the principle of HyperText is even older, somewhere around WWII.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
is said Apple also steal the mouse idea, i read somewhere that was 2 geek guys idea, first went to another comapny but they didnt like it (heh) and then went to Apple where was stoled... just something i read time ago... i was too young back time so cant tell you very well.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
wow! I did not know about SRI... I always thought Xerox was the first GUI and mouse.
Anybody remember DRDOS or PCMOS? I kinda miss PC Tools and Norton Commander sometimes...
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Dave....you need to move on....it's the twentieth century, you know...
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
haha - 20th? err I think even that is old news now Jafo.
yes crae, uncomfortable as it was... I did :Þ

Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
News-flash!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dave knows it's 2001.....
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
You are right about hypertext, craeonics. Vannevar Bush writes an amazing article in 1945 and describes in remarkable detail a system similar to the Web, almost exactly 50 years before it happened.

http://www.isg.sfu.ca/~duchier/misc/vbush/

The name "hypertext" seems to be invented by Ted Nelson in the early sixtees.

http://www.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0155.html

However it was SRI (again) that implemented hypertext in software and showed it on a computer in 1968. You can see the demonstration of that computer (along with a mouse and audio/video "groupware") at:

http://sloan.stanford.edu/MouseSite/1968Demo.html