Computer History page 8
In the mid-1970s, the Xerox corporation asked some of the world's most prominent computer scientists to join their Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). The Xerox PARC scientists had a single mission: to build a better computer.
The PARC team carefully studied the computers of the time, paying special attention to the interaction between user and machine. Based upon their observations, the scientists concluded that the computer-user interface needed a complete overhaul.
The Xerox researchers noticed that most computers presented the user with a screen that was largely blank. Users were expected to communicate with their computer by typing keyboard commands. These commands were buried deep within 500-page, incomprehensible, jargon-filled, printed manuals.
The PARC scientists saw this as the height of madness. The computer is supposed to excel at organizing and providing information, they thought, but we're still relying on antiquated ink-on-paper books for guidance!
The researchers came to one inescapable conclusion: the computer of the future should act as a guide, providing the user with all the operating instructions he or she might need.
The Xerox team felt that an over-reliance on keyboard commands was making computers needlessly complex. Instead of forcing the user to memorize a mind-boggling array of keystrokes, the PARC workers wanted to place the commands right on the computer's screen. The user could then simply point at the command he or she needed.
To free the computer from the barrier of language, the PARC workers proposed using small graphical representations for each command a user might need. A picture of a printer might be used to represent the Print command, for example. Because the PARC interface would rely heavily on graphics, it was eventually described as a Graphical User Interface, or GUI (pronounced gooey).
The PARC team managed to produce a prototype computer, the Alto. However, the machine was larger than a desk and cost a fortune to build. Xerox declared the Alto unmarketable, and eventually shut down the Palo Alto Research Center.
Back at Apple, Steve Jobs was alone and frustrated. As the company grew, Jobs found himself increasingly at odds with Steve Wozniak, his founding partner. The two had clashed frequently, and weren't much on speaking terms any more. Apple's president and board of directors were conservative and overly afraid of taking risks. Ever the entrepeneur, Jobs often felt completely out of sync with the formalties of corporate life. Because Jobs held only 11% of his company, he was often overruled by the board.
In 1979, Jobs paid a visit to the Palo Alto Research Center. After catching a glimpse of the Alto, he was awestruck. Jobs returned to Apple with a renewed vigor. A team of Apple engineers had been working to build Lisa, a replacement for the venerable Apple II. Jobs seized control of the project, transforming Lisa into an elegant, user-friendly, GUI-powered marvel.
Unfortunately, the Lisa project was plagued by cost overruns and delays. It became obvious that, when completed, the Lisa was going to be more expensive than the Xerox Alto and just as unmarketable. Jobs was eventually removed from the Lisa project at the behest of a major stockholder.
Wozniak was injured in a 1981 private airplane crash and opted to take a leave of absence from which he never returned. Jobs was now completely alone.
But Jobs didn't give up. He simply took over the Macintosh project. Originally, the Macintosh was to be a stripped-down, sub-$500 home computer. But Jobs was determined to bring the GUI to life. Before Apple's shareholders knew what was happening, Jobs had launched a revolution. The original Macintosh project was abandoned, and Jobs' team set out to reinvent the personal computer.
At the same time Jobs was transforming the Macintosh into a worthy successor to the Alto, he was also courting Pepsi-Cola president John Sculley. Jobs had long admired Sculley's marketing prowess, and felt that the hip and relatively young soda executive would provide Apple with a much-needed shot in the arm. After a few months of wrangling, Sculley eventually accepted Jobs' invitation. In April of 1983, Sculley became president and CEO of Apple.
After installing Sculley, Jobs turned his attention back to the Macintosh. He was convinced that the machine would redefine personal computing. Using a hand-held pointing device called a mouse, Macintosh users could execute commands by pointing at small onscreen images called icons.
The Macintosh was capable of performing multiple tasks simultaneously, and each task could be partitioned into its own window--a small, rectangular subsection of the screen. By subdividing the screen into windows, a Macintosh user could literally write a letter, balance a checkbook, and play a game of cards--all at the same time!
The Macintosh also offered its users a wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) display. Words and images looked exactly the same on the Macintosh screen as they did when printed on paper. Macintosh users could literally create, save, and modify flyers, business cards, brochures, and newsletters right on their computer screens.
The Macintosh premiered in 1984. Sculley engineered a brilliant advertising campaign that began with Ridley Scott's stunning '1984' commercial (see sidebar) and never let up. The Macintosh commercials portrayed IBM users as conformists, drones, and even as briefcase-carrying, dark-suited lemmings, marching in unison off the edge a cliff.
Apple's most effective commercial showed an IBM PC resting peacefully on a plain white table. A roar is heard, and then, suddenly, a stack of massive, horribly complicated-looking technical manuals crashes thunderously onto the desk from above. The PC is literally lifted off the table by the impact. The camera then drifts over to a Macintosh, sitting inocuously on another white table. A slight rustling noise is heard, and a thin pamphlet flutters down and gently settles on the monitor. After a brief pause, an announcer intones the following memorable phrase:
Which manual would you rather read?
The Macintosh was exciting, powerful, fun, and easy to use. The machine won rave reviews and gave Apple renewed credibility and respect. But sales of the new machine were slow. Sculley lost faith in Jobs, and the two battled incessantly. After first trying--and failing--to oust Sculley in a boardroom coup, Jobs resigned in May of 1985.
As it turned out, Jobs was just a little ahead of his time. Macintosh sales increased steadily, and Jobs' pet project soon became Apple's flagship product. Within two years, Apple was selling over 50,000 Macs each month.
Although the Macintosh captured the hearts of teachers, artists, musicians, and home users, Apple could not crack the lucrative corporate market. By the time the Macintosh arrived, the business community had largely settled on the standard set by IBM. The Macintosh did not follow that standard. The Apple machine looked and worked differently. It used a different operating system. It wouldn't run the programs that ran on the IBM, couldn't read IBM diskettes, and it wasn't easy to connect a Macintosh to an IBM printer, monitor, network card, or other peripheral. Companies that had already invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in programs, printers, monitors, manuals, networks, and training simply couldn't justify the expense of switching to Apple's powerful but incompatible platform.
