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The GUI Godfather

Posted by Scott 04/7/09

p10-lg1
You’re looking at the Xerox Star which “represented the most complete implementation of the ‘Desktop Metaphor’ of any system until the advent of mature Desktop graphical interfaces later on the Mac and PC/Unix/Linux in the 1990s” [source:digibarn] Digibarn has posted up several Polaroids from 1981 depicting the various facets of the Star 8010′s interface (a few of which are shown below). I don’t know what’s more amazing: how ahead of it’s time this GUI was, or how little the OS interface has changed in the past 28 years. This was nearly three decades ago and we’re still clicking folder icons and using archaic pointing devices. Where’s my Minority Report interface!? My wrist hurts.

xerox-star-8010-131
xerox-star-8010-151
xerox-star-8010-14
Check out all the rest of the hi-res Polaroids here.

Posted by: Scott on 04.07.2009 in GUI . Hardware

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Picture 1 10/GUI
Osawa+Newworldaquarium+KelleyPolar Osawa+Newworldaquarium..
7 Comments  Leave A Comment
1
Bas Says:
April 7th, 2009 at 11:52 pm

This clear interface almost looks better than those glossy buttons from nowadays.

2
Nathaniel Says:
April 8th, 2009 at 2:41 am

Talking of GUI have you seen this video…

http://www.fubiz.net/2009/03/17/microsoft-sustainability/

This would really sort out your wrist problems!

I sent you an email recently, but I presume it didn’t get through the junk filters… :-(

3
ichi.one Says:
April 8th, 2009 at 5:29 am

but even that “Microsoft Sustainability” idea is stolen from the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, there was an article in The Wire or maybe mondo 2000 in the early 90ies that showed all this GUI stuff Xerox had developed during the 70s & 80s

4
Alex / HeadUp Says:
April 8th, 2009 at 7:20 am

The guy who founded the company I worked for was one of the designers of the UI for IBM’s OS 2. Pretty crazy to think about UI so early on…it’s come a long way, but it’s got a much, much longer way to go.

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Image - The GUI Godfather - blueverticalstudio Says:
April 9th, 2009 at 8:49 pm

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Classic Iconography Says:
April 16th, 2010 at 9:01 am

[...] out a collection of images of the Xerox Star, which boasted one of the earliest, best versions of the GUI metaphor we still use. . Bookmark the [...]

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