Crazy Eddie's Used ComputersNov 19
I declare that today, Nov. 19, 2025 is the 50th anniversary of BitBLT, a routine so fundamental to computer graphics that we don't even think about it having an origin. A working (later optimized) implementation was devised on the Xerox Alto by members of the Smalltalk team. It made it easy to arbitrarily copy and move arbitrary rectangles of bits in a graphical bitmap. It was this routine that made Smalltalk's graphical interface possible. Below is part of a PARC-internal memo detailing it:
Show threadsonjaNov 19
@fvzappa im not really a nerdy computer person but how is it that xerox literally developed some of the most important things used in modern computing and no one talks about it? (mostly im talking about GUIs) is it odd? its seems odd to me.
Show thread🆘Bill Cole 🇺🇦Nov 19
@emily_rugburn @fvzappa If you’re under 30, that topic was talked out before you were born. :)
But you are absolutely correct: Xerox PARC invented a bunch of ideas that they put into the Alto and Star, but they never understood the value of what they had until after Apple was shipping Macs and Lisas. They were lacking in visionaries.
Show threadCrazy Eddie's Used Computers

@grumpybozo @emily_rugburn

Xerox PARC had visionaries in abundance; what it lacked was upper management that was able to actually do something with it.

Nov 19 at 10:57pmWeb
Show thread🆘Bill Cole 🇺🇦Nov 19
@fvzappa @emily_rugburn Right. PARC had technical visionaries but Xerox had no business visionaries. People who were willing to imagine Xerox as more than “The Document Company.”
FWIW, the Star was a great document production device. The secretary for the lab I worked in right out of college used one and her memos were memorable.