PARC was the center of the universe for the development of many personal computer and Internet technologies. For example: Ethernet, laser printing, personal computer (Alto), graphical user interface, and object-oriented programming. Maybe “center of the universe” is an exageration, but at the very least, it’s one of the main trees as you can see by downloading this diagram or looking at this timeline. I recently got a tour of the company, and these are my photos.

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The architect designed the outside of the building to blend into the foothills because Palo Alto residents didn’t want see buildings.

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There are many large patios for employees to hang out on.

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A solar connector that PARC researchers designed.

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This is the “typical” desk of a PARC researcher: six monitors, three for a Macintosh and three for a Windows machine.

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The “typical” keyboard of PARC researcher.

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This little patch of orange paint is the original color of the walls. The theory was that orange fosters innovative thinking.

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Almost every office has a window. There are also several garden areas like this one to provide a Zen-ish atmosphere.

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This is the robotics lab.

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I had the impression that PARC was all about software and design, but there’s a lot of power tools for fabrication.

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This is the PARC gym which includes an on-site nurse.
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This is the cafeteria.

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Herman Miller furniture, pre Dotcom days.

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The friendly staff of the corporate libary.

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Looking for any of my books. They told me they were checked out. :-)

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The library did have Founders at Work—because it wasn’t checked out. :-)

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The first Kindle?

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The first labtop?

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The first PDA?

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The first iPod?

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The first LAN?

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This is what it looks like to speak at PARC.