This is simply a… "I'm a newly obsessed FAN of Phil Edwards" comment. I've been binge watching your videos for the past two days…completely enamoured by your writing, video production and performance skills. A most enlightening and delightful discovery Mr. Edwards…thank you for your tremendously entertaining and informative work!!!
nothing much new about this– don't think Jobs or Gates ever created anything of their own–they were just great pirates and bullies. The stuff that microsoft tried to develop on own has generally been mediocre to gawdawful…so, not exactly news that they created and propagated their own myths and the gullible public bought it while they systematically forced or bought other companies out of market.
By the mid-90s, "Fumbling the Future" was recommended reading for Xerox's new hire training. That's the mindset they'd fallen into – "we originated everything, and then let everyone else profit off it." Hell of a message to give to someone who's been working there for a day and a half.
Xerox had a truly brilliant idea in creating the Palo Alto Research Center – or – PARC. But yes – they were a copier company that didn't understand how to use the research their wonderful Research Center had done.
Now though – here is why the Xerox Star and the Apple Lisa failed. Money. They just cost to darn much. I don't remember how much it was – but it was A LOT.
There was a later time when different companies created Work Stations – that were very High End computers – and these were used by people and organizations that desperately needed the power of these systems and – most importantly – could pay for it.
Most people and businesses couldn't.
The real thing that happened here – was not that someone came up with these great ideas – but – that gradually, over time – technological development – got the prices down and these once unaffordable systems became … affordable.
THAT is what really happened here.
It isn't just that someone came up with a new, powerful way of doing things – it's that technology got to where people could afford the machines that could make those things happen.
And THAT – is the reason Microsoft – not Apple – won the Operating System Wars. Windows Rules and the Mac OS – is now … Unix … (last I checked ….).
Microsoft was aware of what these new things were – but – they concentrated on making Windows a system that could run on relatively cheap computers – compared to the Apples.
The Mistake Apple made – was assuming their competitor was IBM – when it wasn't. They were charging a price for their Systems which was competitive with the IBM Systems – but NOT – with the IBM Clones.
Compaq was the first firm to reverse engineer the IBM BIOS – which was the only part of the IBM PC that IBM actually had a creative legal hold on. IBM had not designed all the hardware for their PC themselves – they'd used off the shelf components that anyone could buy (because they were cheaper) – but they did still have legal rights to the BIOS.
After Compaq reverse engineered the IBM BIOS – they could make IBM Compatible Computers – that would run all the same software as the IBM's.
Microsoft also had legal rights to the Operating System. That means – that they could sell Microsoft DOS or MSDOS to anyone running an IBM Compatible Computer.
Thus – IBM had lost the bubble. The platform … the Industry Standard Architecture IBM had created – now belonged to everybody.
And – everybody and their brother took advantage of it.
When IBM tried to take back their status as Industry Leader – the Industry Standard – won out. The Clones ruled and PS/2 systems failed.
THIS was the reason everyone and their brother could own a computer. If all this hadn't happened the way it did – things could be very different than they are.
Then an other technological threshold was reached and – Smart Phones – became a thing. .
Did Apple really win, though? Windows outsold Macintosh 15 to 1 in the 1980s and 30 to 1 in the 1990s. In fact, excluding phones, Windows still outsells Mac (though by a much smaller margin these days).
I got to use a Xerox Star Workstation back in the early 80’s in their Webster, NY copier testing lab. I had already used and owned a PC (pre-Win 3.11), and had already used an early monochrome Mac. The Star station GUI had nearly exactly the same look and functionality as the Mac, and both made the PC look like a dinosaur. Xerox was using the Stars in-house as development tools, but they clearly were as capable as the early Macs.
Xerox'x technology would lily have never seen the market let alone widespread use. Is it any wonder that Apple's Market Cap is Hundreds of times larger than Xerox.
you said that the legend is not the real truth. but you don’t explain what “the real truth” is. and so far. it sounds like they do match. i mean that’s 10 minutes of pointless build up to nothing.
GREAT VIDEO! In the late 1970s I worked for a company that had two Xerox Diablo 3200. They were great computers for business that could not afford a main frame and the desktop PC were not yet read for medium size businesses. They cost about $35,000 each. I remember Xerox showed us a mouse that cost about $1,000 and we couldn't figure out why.
Great job sweeping the myths away and looking at the organic trajectory Apply had. I went to work for Xerox in 1985 and had those systems – multiple systems at/on my desk. I like your take on the Apple evolution that had to take place to make an economically viable product – many approaches to the market before the recipe evolved to just the right thing. For a good 5-10 years Apple found its footing against the IBM PC – it only had 20% of the market back then and everyone thought it had topped out. The eventual rebirths of the company would make a good follow-on to this video.
The point is not really that Apple stole from Xerox, that just a redhearing that some people like to talk about.
The point is that they wanted to rewrite history trying to say they where the inovators that came up with all those things, like mouses, UIs, even PC's, among other things. That might not be so evident today, but was very much a discussed issued about the time UI's started becoming a real consumer thing in the late 80s and aftwards… And every now and then they try this trick again, claiming they ivented the smart phone and other stuff, and people should be really on the lookout when one of the richest company in the world repetadly tries to do that, they can do some real damage if they are able to monopolized some segment of computer science someday….
And they did try to sue and proihibid other companies like microsoft to develop those same tools.
So it is really about how they are hypocrates, and this alternate narrative is just a spinoff trying to ride that… Besides trying to monopolizing other peoples works…
@NatetheNintendofan
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
8:06 that's the music from my school timers and I'm in high school
@AGwolf2097
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
hey what music did you use during the turtleneck segment toward the end of the video?
@MyrLin8
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
What makes you think 'Xerox' didn't know what would happen?
@petersachs764
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
Its kind of funny Steve liked Sony because Apple seems very Sony-esque in their products over the decades.
@jbgheel5028
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
0:55 what the hell is Gooey?
@hannahbrown2728
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
Noah Wyle had a role as Steve Jobs? He may be the only reason I watch that movie then
@cirishnspanish4915
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
Interesting! Yet…..funny 😉
@scottburns9350
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
This is simply a… "I'm a newly obsessed FAN of Phil Edwards" comment. I've been binge watching your videos for the past two days…completely enamoured by your writing, video production and performance skills. A most enlightening and delightful discovery Mr. Edwards…thank you for your tremendously entertaining and informative work!!!
@agbook2007
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
It is ironic that “Xerox” has become synonymous to the word “copy”…
@stephenandersen4625
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
I think Steve wore a mock turtleneck
@jimmysimpkins9525
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
You have your computer history all wrong !
@alexcitron5159
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
Worked at Xerox in 90s. Heard stories. SImilar to the half-truths you talk about. Thanks for giving us more to go on.
@ardeladimwit
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
nothing much new about this– don't think Jobs or Gates ever created anything of their own–they were just great pirates and bullies. The stuff that microsoft tried to develop on own has generally been mediocre to gawdawful…so, not exactly news that they created and propagated their own myths and the gullible public bought it while they systematically forced or bought other companies out of market.
@hattree
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
Apple never took the whole market, not even close.
@mascan7905
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
By the mid-90s, "Fumbling the Future" was recommended reading for Xerox's new hire training. That's the mindset they'd fallen into – "we originated everything, and then let everyone else profit off it." Hell of a message to give to someone who's been working there for a day and a half.
@BobSmith-dk8nw
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
Xerox had a truly brilliant idea in creating the Palo Alto Research Center – or – PARC. But yes – they were a copier company that didn't understand how to use the research their wonderful Research Center had done.
Now though – here is why the Xerox Star and the Apple Lisa failed. Money. They just cost to darn much. I don't remember how much it was – but it was A LOT.
There was a later time when different companies created Work Stations – that were very High End computers – and these were used by people and organizations that desperately needed the power of these systems and – most importantly – could pay for it.
Most people and businesses couldn't.
The real thing that happened here – was not that someone came up with these great ideas – but – that gradually, over time – technological development – got the prices down and these once unaffordable systems became … affordable.
THAT is what really happened here.
It isn't just that someone came up with a new, powerful way of doing things – it's that technology got to where people could afford the machines that could make those things happen.
And THAT – is the reason Microsoft – not Apple – won the Operating System Wars. Windows Rules and the Mac OS – is now … Unix … (last I checked ….).
Microsoft was aware of what these new things were – but – they concentrated on making Windows a system that could run on relatively cheap computers – compared to the Apples.
The Mistake Apple made – was assuming their competitor was IBM – when it wasn't. They were charging a price for their Systems which was competitive with the IBM Systems – but NOT – with the IBM Clones.
Compaq was the first firm to reverse engineer the IBM BIOS – which was the only part of the IBM PC that IBM actually had a creative legal hold on. IBM had not designed all the hardware for their PC themselves – they'd used off the shelf components that anyone could buy (because they were cheaper) – but they did still have legal rights to the BIOS.
After Compaq reverse engineered the IBM BIOS – they could make IBM Compatible Computers – that would run all the same software as the IBM's.
Microsoft also had legal rights to the Operating System. That means – that they could sell Microsoft DOS or MSDOS to anyone running an IBM Compatible Computer.
Thus – IBM had lost the bubble. The platform … the Industry Standard Architecture IBM had created – now belonged to everybody.
And – everybody and their brother took advantage of it.
When IBM tried to take back their status as Industry Leader – the Industry Standard – won out. The Clones ruled and PS/2 systems failed.
THIS was the reason everyone and their brother could own a computer. If all this hadn't happened the way it did – things could be very different than they are.
Then an other technological threshold was reached and – Smart Phones – became a thing.
.
@ErickC
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
Did Apple really win, though? Windows outsold Macintosh 15 to 1 in the 1980s and 30 to 1 in the 1990s. In fact, excluding phones, Windows still outsells Mac (though by a much smaller margin these days).
@Embargoman
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
As to Apple is to tech now make a video about How Nintendo Won!
@bradarmstrong3952
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
I got to use a Xerox Star Workstation back in the early 80’s in their Webster, NY copier testing lab. I had already used and owned a PC (pre-Win 3.11), and had already used an early monochrome Mac. The Star station GUI had nearly exactly the same look and functionality as the Mac, and both made the PC look like a dinosaur. Xerox was using the Stars in-house as development tools, but they clearly were as capable as the early Macs.
@goobfilmcast4239
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
Xerox'x technology would lily have never seen the market let alone widespread use. Is it any wonder that Apple's Market Cap is Hundreds of times larger than Xerox.
@danh5637
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
you said that the legend is not the real truth. but you don’t explain what “the real truth” is. and so far. it sounds like they do match. i mean that’s 10 minutes of pointless build up to nothing.
@michaeldeaktor8190
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
GREAT VIDEO! In the late 1970s I worked for a company that had two Xerox Diablo 3200. They were great computers for business that could not afford a main frame and the desktop PC were not yet read for medium size businesses. They cost about $35,000 each. I remember Xerox showed us a mouse that cost about $1,000 and we couldn't figure out why.
@danielniffenegger7698
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
What “burns” me is how jobs whined about others (Bill Gates, Google, Samsung) “stole” from him while stealing from them!
@alexwilliams5799
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
Apple is built on stealing ideas
@crossthreadaeroindustries8554
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
Great job sweeping the myths away and looking at the organic trajectory Apply had. I went to work for Xerox in 1985 and had those systems – multiple systems at/on my desk. I like your take on the Apple evolution that had to take place to make an economically viable product – many approaches to the market before the recipe evolved to just the right thing. For a good 5-10 years Apple found its footing against the IBM PC – it only had 20% of the market back then and everyone thought it had topped out. The eventual rebirths of the company would make a good follow-on to this video.
@ggoedert
April 20, 2024 at 2:23 am
The point is not really that Apple stole from Xerox, that just a redhearing that some people like to talk about.
The point is that they wanted to rewrite history trying to say they where the inovators that came up with all those things, like mouses, UIs, even PC's, among other things. That might not be so evident today, but was very much a discussed issued about the time UI's started becoming a real consumer thing in the late 80s and aftwards… And every now and then they try this trick again, claiming they ivented the smart phone and other stuff, and people should be really on the lookout when one of the richest company in the world repetadly tries to do that, they can do some real damage if they are able to monopolized some segment of computer science someday….
And they did try to sue and proihibid other companies like microsoft to develop those same tools.
So it is really about how they are hypocrates, and this alternate narrative is just a spinoff trying to ride that… Besides trying to monopolizing other peoples works…