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Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: AudiobookHub Recommendation
Chapter 2: — The Cookie Monster Computer
Chapter 3: — Xerox Buys the Wrong Horse
Chapter 4: — The House on Porter Drive
Chapter 5: — The Clone That Started a War
Chapter 6: — The Alto and the Ethernet Years
Chapter 7: — WYSIWYG and the Office That Could Be
Chapter 8: — Futures Day and the Great Demonstration
Chapter 9: — The Worm, VLSI, and the Outside World Closing In
Chapter 10: — The Jobs Visit, the Star, and the Supernova
Chapter 11: — Did Xerox Blow It?
Description
Dealers of Lightning is an inside chronicle of Xerox PARC’s first decade and a half—how a cash-rich copier giant assembled an unmatched cast of engineers and scientists, gave them unusual freedom, and accidentally helped ignite the personal computing revolution. The book tracks the lab’s core breakthroughs: the Alto personal computer, the Ethernet local network, WYSIWYG word processing, laser printing, and the software systems that made graphical computing feel natural.
It’s also a story of friction: research culture versus corporate incentives, the politics of budgets and product strategy, and how hard it is for large organizations to commercialize disruptive technologies while defending existing cash cows. Built from extensive interviews and detailed timelines, the narrative shows both the myth and the nuance behind the famous question: did Xerox “blow it,” or was the outcome nearly inevitable?
Who Should Listen
- Listeners who want the real origin story behind the GUI, Ethernet, laser printing, and modern office computing
- Product leaders and founders studying why great R&D doesn’t automatically translate into market wins
- Anyone fascinated by Silicon Valley’s pre-Apple, pre-Microsoft “time machine” era