GUIs and Graphics in the Way-Back Machine

[The Lord of the Flies <python@ux1.cyberenet.NOSPAM.net>]

--(Quoted material at foot.)--

Now that is interesting!  I thought that the '70s at Palo Alto was a long
time ago for a GUI to exist!  But the '60s!?  Wow!  Computers are *KOOL!*

I wonder if any of this--or even such like--can be traced back even
farther.  Anybody know anything?  Discuss, if so.

It seems like in one of my old mags (from the piles and piles of them)
that it had the story of the very first instance of computer graphics
ever.  I don't remember when this happened, or any other part of the story
for that matter, except that some guy "locked himself away" in his
basement for days, in the manner of a scientist in lab not even worrying
about stuff like eating and wife and stuff, and at the end came out
triumphantly yelling, jumping, etc. because he created--out of nothing--a
"simple" straight, horizontal line across his screen.  Thus was the very
first graphic ever in the history of 'puters.  Hmmm.  Oughta try to look
that up.  I think that it's maybe in one of my issues of *Compute!*

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**Charles Richmond ("CR") <richmond@ev1.net> pecked-out this on 
  Fri, 13 Jul 2001 18:52:07 -0700:

**He quotes me, The Lord of the Flies ("tLotF"):

CR>      [snip...]     [snip...]     [snip...]
tLotF> The people most certainly knew that they were onto something.  They
tLotF> were sent to an isolated cabin as in an artistic retreat back in
tLotF> the days when that sort of thing was more appreciated.  It was an
tLotF> old-fashioned computer "love-in," and you bet that they had a
tLotF> steady supply of grass, too.  And after weeks or more of
tLotF> mind-expanding brain-storming came a revolutionary creation.  One
tLotF> that would eventually change the world.  Only not in the way that
tLotF> was expected.

tLotF> Jobs came snoopin' about (filthy bastard!) and picked up on what
tLotF> they were onto as well.  And in much the same way as CBS gained
tLotF> industrial intelligence from Gene Rodenberry about _his_ baby and
tLotF> then made _Lost in Space_, Jobs took the knowledge back to Apple.
tLotF> Meanwhile the suits at Xerox said to the valuable work-force that
tLotF> had been at Palo Alto, "What da hell is this?!  This isn't good!
tLotF> What can you even do with this, ya morons!?  It isn't worth
tLotF> anything!  It'll never actually go anywhere!  Jezus!  What a
tLotF> waste!" But secretly they said to themselves, "Ah well, maybe not a
tLotF> total loss.  We'll dump this pile of crap on Jobs at Apple.  Can ya
tLotF> believe what he's willing to pay?  He he he, what a sucker!"

CR> It's true that Jobs lifted windowing technology from Xerox PARC,
CR> albeit *not* without compensation to Xerox. It is also true that PARC
CR> lifted some of the windows technology and the *mouse* from Doug
CR> Englebart, who did a windowing demonstration in the 1960's.

CR> Apple also *added* some concepts to the way that windowing worked,
CR> which Micro$uck gleefully swiped *without* compensation.
-- 
				---The Lord of the Flies
				   (AKA, Python)
				   python@eticomm.net