Triumph of the Nerds

So I'm going to start off by saying this video was longer than I expected, however it was very educational. I learned more about how computers and PC's became so advanced, and why GUI and personal computing is so important.

Xerox started something called a think tank, called PARC. PARC was to think ahead into the future of personal computing and how it could take over the market. The first computer worked on was called "Alto" since it was created in Palo Alto, CA. This is the first computer that had GUI which is, a type of interface that allows the user to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators. However the GUI on Alto allowed the user to drag things to a floppy disk and drop it in; this was very advanced at the time. The Alto was also able to connect to other computer via ethernet which was also advanced.

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, then took it upon himself to view PARC and check out Alto. He then got the idea to create a GUI for the personal computer. He made it his goal to create a GUI that did not use "text-based" interface like DOS. Jobs called this computer the "Lisa" which included the new GUI, however that upped the price. The Lisa was not a success because of increase in price, so Jobs teamed up with a man, Jeff Raskin, who began exploring the idea of a lower priced computer that later turned out to be, Macintosh. Macintosh, was the first affordable PC with a unique GUI interface. Sales skyrocketed in 1984, however that was the only year they were up. Sales started to slow, so they decided to team up with Microsoft to come up with software to be sold only for MACs. This software was called laser printing, however from the title you can already assume the word "expensive." This resulted in Apple taking another plummet in the market, and shortly after Steve Jobs was out of a job.

Bill Gates, owner of Microsoft, saw the future of GUI and decided to expand it and create his own. This GUI became a huge success because it was linked with DOS OS. Mac tried suing for "looking too much like MAC" however, they lost the battle. Microsoft continued to be created, and was soon called Microsoft 3. Because of the unique GUI, and abundant amount of programs, Microsoft 3 blew up the market leaving all it's competitors in the dust.

I thought this video was cool because learning about how computers and laptops evolved and the history of them was very interesting, and comparing that to today's market is kind of crazy.