The Xerox Alto was one of the first computers designed for individual use (though not as a home computer), making it arguably what is now called a personal computer. It was developed at Xerox PARC in 1973. It was the first computer to use the desktop metaphor and mouse-driven graphical user interface (GUI).
It was not a commercial product, but several thousand units were built and were heavily used at PARC, other Xerox facilities, and at several universities for many years. The Alto greatly influenced the design of personal computers in the following decades, notably the Apple Macintosh and the first Sun workstations. It is now rare and a valued collector's item.
Read more about Xerox Alto: History, Architecture, Software, Diffusion and Evolution, Xerox and The Alto
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“Once the Xerox copier was invented, diplomacy died.”
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