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PARC Signs On A Partner: Fujitsu
leighklotz writes "PARC, which a few years ago was said be be targeted for a spin-off from Xerox, has signed on its first major partner under its new life as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xerox. Fujitsu has announced "Joint Research in Ubiquitous Computing," a three-year sponsored-research plan beginning in January 2005. 'Because we're not a product company, we need a partner like Fujitsu who can deliver our products into the marketplace,' said Teresa Lunt, according to InfoWorld."
Ok, I should have seen this coming. Fujitsu sells RC extraction tools, has licensed an ARC core and they make SPARC processors. Obviously PARC was the missing link!
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
Uh, you know those original IBM keyboards that everyone raves about? They're made by Fujitsu. I had one that was Fujitsu-labelled back in 1991, and it was only a couple of years ago, when I moved house and had to let go of some unused hardware, that it left my possession in full working order.
On a secondary note, notice how Fujitsu is a Japanese company? If keeping the high-tech industry and high-tech jobs in America is such a big deal then why is it that there wasn't a single US company prepared to fight for a partnership with PARC? Granted, IBM is exiting the PC arena but PARC is about more than just developing for the desktop, and I would have thought that the PR benefits of dealing with the home of the GUI would be to die for for Apple, HP or someone similar.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Despite PARCs perceived failures (like not capitalizing commercially on the GUI), its creation of the laser printer more than made the entire endeavor profitable for Xerox. I suggest reading Dealers of Lightning for a great history of Xerox PARC.
Dude, I think I can see my house from here.