The Computer That Invented Our Modern World

Although never sold to the public, the 1970s Xerox Alto pioneered almost every feature we take for granted today. It introduced the mouse, the desktop interface, and networking decades before personal computers became common.

Researchers at Xerox PARC built this machine to test a vision of the future that seemed like science fiction at the time. It featured a high-resolution bit-mapped screen and a graphical interface that allowed users to see exactly what their documents would look like before printing. Steve Jobs later famously visited the lab and integrated these revolutionary concepts into the Apple Lisa and Macintosh. While Xerox failed to capitalize on the invention, the Alto became the direct blueprint for the digital world we use every day.