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Why would Xerox not try to market a computer more advanced than technology that we would not see until almost a decade after it was introduced in 1973? Obviously I know some factors played a role in this, such as cost and what not, but with such a unique system and one of the first GUI made you would think Xerox would realize the future of computers as we know it lay directly in their palms.

The design itself seems to be made for use in any general work/home enviroment, for instance the portrait orientation of the screen, giving you a perfect display of whatever you may be printing to the dimensions of printer paper. A well made file manager, a interface made easy for any non-tech savy users, and it even had games such as MazeWar, a vector based first person shooter very neat for its time!

So why would Xerox put money into the development of such a unique computer that seemed perfectly made for use by the general public at a time when nothing else similar even existed if they had no intention of marketing this in the first place? Why design something for such a wide range of computer users? Why invest in this computer at all? The cost was estimated to be around $40,000 (if sold) which is indeed steep, but I imagine had they sold these, that many universities and businesses would have invested in a product like this.

user
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MagneticNode
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    Anecdotally, I remember reading and interview with Steve Jobs where he said he was so blown away by Xerox work on the GUI that he completely missed their object oriented programming approach, or their application of networking machines together. - I think Xerox Parc was the classic example of being so far ahead nobody in management knew or understood what they had. – Geo... Nov 30 '17 at 01:47
  • @Geo... That might have been in Triumph of the Nerds. I think there's an interview snippet there where Jobs discusses that. – user Dec 01 '17 at 15:13
  • @Michael: Yep, you are exactly right. I went back and rewatched the DVD and the bit I was thinking of is from Episode 3: Great Artists Steal, from approximately 11:43 to 12:50. The first 11 minutes of the episode talks about Xerox quite a bit, the OP might enjoy checking it out. – Geo... Dec 03 '17 at 01:39

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For one, the Alto was marketed since 1975 to universities etc. Until ~1979 about 2000 units were sold, almost half of them outside Xerox.

In 1977 they started a project to build a more reliable and customer enabled machine. As a result the first Star was marketed in 1981. These 4 years were mostly spent developing office and communication software needed to make it useful to customers. After all, companies don't care if a system is revolutionary or not. They only spend money if it's a more useful tool than the ones they already have or can buy elsewhere.

Every development needs an environment where it can thrive. At first, a mouse slows down text editing speed when used by a professional, and a bitmap is not needed when underlined or, most fancy, italics is all that is needed for your business letters. Remember, the 70s and all of the the 80s, electronic typewriters where more successful in offices than computers doing the same job.

It's never about technology, but always about usefulness.

In Germany Siemens did OEM the Star beginning in 1981 as EMS 5800 and focused less on the graphics ability or the easy desktop, but the integration within large scale company networks. At that time Siemens was the leading telco supplier, ruling the market for local PBX. Due integration with their PBX systems and data transmission standards they where able to create a special market targeting large scale customers.

Tim Locke
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Raffzahn
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    The Alto was never sold, only donated to universities and such. (http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/xerox-alto-source-code/) – MagneticNode Nov 29 '17 at 18:21
  • @MagneticNode You might want to reread the source you're citing 'Ultimately about 1500 of them were built and deployed throughout the Xerox Corporation, as well as at universities and other sites. But this groundbreaking machine was never sold as a product;...' No word about donations or no payment. Even Xerox departments had to pay and so did universities. And 'never sold as product' is a rather vague statement. I did work with one in 1979 in a company not related to Xerox or an university. – Raffzahn Nov 29 '17 at 18:40
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    My understanding (based on reading the accounts of various PARC researchers of the period) has always been that while Xerox never marketed the Alto (or indeed most of the other useful innovations their researchers originated), they were never shy of selling them if they were asked directly. The opinion of at least some of those researchers seems to be that the company's marketing department was never really sure how to market them, largely because they were so different from what everyone else was selling at the time. – Jules Nov 29 '17 at 19:05