Computer Myths and Folklore: Apple's raid on XEROX PARC

Members of the Macintosh design team

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak

• The myth:
  
  
  • Clip from Pirates of Silicon Valley
  • Michael Mattis' article on Salon.com
    
    

    • "At PARC, so the legend goes, Xerox had literally been squatting on the PC revolution for years. PARC scientists had come up with an impressive array of newfangled widgets, built into its Alto and Star computers, that were designed to make computing easier and more accessible to non-geeks. These included a detached keyboard, software that created ‘windows’ on the screen and icons that could be clicked using a little, wheeled contraption called a mouse. But the stodgy suits at Xerox HQ just didn't get it and, the thinking was, they never would.

      Enter Steve Jobs. Xerox had made a $1 million investment in Apple prior to the start-up's initial public offering in 1980. For the privilege of investing in Apple, Xerox agreed to let Apple employees visit PARC and take a look at the Alto and the Star. At the end of 1979, a team led by Jobs made two trips to PARC.”
      
      

  • Michael Malone's Infinite Loop
    
    
    • "Jobs returned to Apple literally with Stars in his eyes. He had seen the future and it computed. Better yet, he knew Xerox would never get the product to market. So he made it his crusade to do so, even if he had to steal Xerox's ideas.
      
      
• The facts:
  
  
  • Michael Malone's Infinite Loop
    
    
    • Larry Tesler, Apple's tour guide at PARC, later commented, "What impressed me was that their questions were better than any I had heard in the seven years I had been at Xerox ... Their questions showed that they understood the implications and the subtleties."
    • This legend was spread for years by Apple's PR department.
    • According to Apple archives, the Macintosh and Lisa projects were approved and begun at least three months prior to Jobs' visit to PARC.
      
      
  • Xerox actually lost a lawsuit that accused Apple of infringing on intellectual property.
  • Jobs hired one of the principle PARC scientists, Larry Tessler, to lead the Lisa project replacing former HP engineer John Couch.
  • Most of the technologies that PARC is known for and the Apple allegedly stole, such as the graphical interface and the mouse, were actually first demonstrated by Douglas Englebart in the 1960’s.