This is hilarious! Once again proving that how people believe in myths and never ever loose any opportunity to trash the most advanced technology company of the world. What they don't know is that they are making fool of themselves when they are unaware of reality. They can't accept that everything from modern computer to
smartphones of
samsung/htc to
tablets which they are currently using is originally evolved from
Apple's innovations in broader sense.
Anyways let's go again one more time shall we?
Whenever Apple tries to protect its intellectual property (this week Apple sued Samsung/HTC for patent infringement of patented
iPhone/
iPad technology), there will always be few people who parrot variation of this myth: “Apple stole GUI from PARC / Xerox.”
Is it a case of “Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal?”
Apple stole Gui? Did Apple steal Xerox PARC GUI intellectual property without permission?
Myth:
Apple CEO Steve Jobs saw Xerox PARC product such as the GUI, either on a tour or at a trade show, then stole the PARC GUI implementation without permission, to create the Apple Lisa and the original
Mac OS / Macintosh GUI.
Fact:
Apple obtained permission ahead of the Xerox PARC visit. In addition, Apple provided compensation in exchange for the various Xerox PARC ideas such as the GUI.
The Motley Fool, financial publication of investment news and provider of investment advisory services, on the real story of Apple and PARC:
“Xerox could have owned the PC revolution, but instead it sat on the technology for years. Then, in exchange for the opportunity to invest in a hot new pre-IPO start-up called “Apple,” the Xerox PARC commandos were forced — under protest — to give Apple’s engineers a tour and a demonstration of their work. The result was the Apple Macintosh, which
Microsoft later copied to create
Windows.”
Xerox Received Financial Compensation from Apple
The compensation for the Xerox PARC technology sharing deal with Apple was in form of $1 million dollars pre-IPO Apple stock / investment (if Apple does well, Xerox will benefit from Apple’s success).
The PARC demo took place in 1979. Xerox received its compensation in exchange for showing some prototypes that Xerox didn’t know what to do with.
“November: Steve Jobs and software engineer Bill Atkinson visit the Xerox PARC lab in Palo Alto, California. More Apple employees will visit a month later.”
“Jobs and several Apple employees including Jef Raskin visited Xerox PARC in December 1979 to see the Xerox Alto. Xerox granted Apple engineers three days of access to the PARC facilities in return for the option to buy 100,000 shares of Apple at the pre-IPO price of $10 a share.”
Myth:
“Apple copied everything from Xerox.” With the assumption that Most of the initial Apple GUI was copied from the GUI of Xerox PARC Alto Computer’s Smalltalk integrated programming environment. Thus Apple never innovated, and did not contribute to GUI innovations.
Fact:
There is substantial difference between the technology behind Apple’s GUI and the Xerox PARC Smalltalk GUI. Apple had to invent its own architecture. Drag-and-drop file manipulation came from the Apple Mac group, along with many unique concepts.
Bruce Horn, one of the main designers of the Macintosh software who worked at Xerox for years before he worked at Apple, discusses the substantial differences between the Apple interface and the various interfaces on Xerox systems:
“There is a significant difference between using the Mac and Smalltalk. [Xerox PARC Alto Workstation] Smalltalk has no Finder, and no need for one, really. Drag-and- drop file manipulation came from the Mac group, along with many other unique concepts: resources and dual-fork files for storing layout and international information apart from code; definition procedures; drag-and-drop system extension and configuration; types and creators for files; direct manipulation editing of document, disk, and application names; redundant typed data for the clipboard; multiple views of the file system; desk accessories; and control panels, among others. The [Apple] Lisa group invented some fundamental concepts as well: pull down menus, the imaging and windowing models based on QuickDraw, the clipboard, and cleanly internationalizable software… The Mac and Lisa designers had to invent their own architectures.”
In short, did Apple take Xerox PARC Alto computer Smalltalk and reverse engineered it to make a copy? No, besides compensating PARC for the demo (with pre-IPO Apple stock deal), Apple took the basic concepts demonstrated by PARC and invented the architecture that is now used by modern computers.
Apple Stole GUI from PARC Was the Reason Xerox Sued Apple
Myth:
Why else would Xerox sue Apple for $150 million for copyright infringement if Apple did not steal GUI from PARC?
Fact:
Anyone can make any claim in court. In this case, Xerox lost the case. The U.S. Federal court dismissed all of Xerox’s copyright claims seeking damages against Apple.
After Apple sued Microsoft and
HP for copyright infringement of GUI elements that are similar to those used in Apple computers (look and feel lawsuits), Xerox accuses Apple of unlawfully using Xerox copyrights in its Macintosh and Lisa computers. Xerox’s new CEO wanted to get paid if Apple wins its copyright lawsuits. The lawsuit got more to do with Xerox got no royalties or financial earnings from Apple besides the Apple stock deal.
New York Times, March 24, 1990: “A Federal judge today dismissed almost all the closely watched copyright lawsuit filed by the Xerox Corporation against Apple Computer Inc. In what appears to be a sweeping victory for Apple, Judge Vaughn R. Walker of the Federal District Court in San Francisco threw out five of the six counts in Xerox’s lawsuit, saying, in essence, that Xerox’s complaints were inappropriate for a variety of legal reasons.”
Conclusion
Microsoft apologists, sorry to bust your bubble.
I. Did Apple stole GUI from Xerox? No. It was a pre-arranged technology / investment deal between Xerox and Apple.
II. Did Apple plagiarize the Xerox PARC Alto / Smalltalk GUI code and overall functionality? No, not only did Apple created its own architecture, Apple have invented various GUI technologies such as drag-and-drop file manipulation (that were later stolen by Microsoft).
III. Were the Xerox / PARC claims of being the original inventor of the Apple Mac GUI proven in court? No, U.S. Federal Court rejected Xerox claim of ownership of Apple GUI copyright.
Plenty of people fall for all kinds of pranks, scams, and urban legends, from rickrolls to Nigerian “royalty” emails, even Oprah got pwned (over 9000 wins).
If you still believe Apple stole GUI from Xerox PARC, I got a bridge to sell you.
Reference
1)
How Xerox Forfeited the PC War [the motley fool]
2)
Apple: The first 30 years [macworld]
3)
Apple Inc. wiki [wikipedia] (note that this quote doesn’t have proper attribution on wiki, however it seems to be the most detailed explanation of the $1 million in pre-IPO Apple Stock investment deal)
4)
Q&A with Bob Cringely, Triumph of the Nerds: Pg 15 [pbs]
5)
On Xerox, Apple and Progress [folklore]
6)
Xerox vs. Apple: Standard ‘Dashboard’ Is at Issue [new york times]
7)
Most of Xerox’s Suit Against Apple Barred [new york times]
8 )
Xerox Corp. v. Apple Computer, Inc. U.S. District Court 1990 [
google scholar]