Fumbling the Future: How Xerox Invented Then Ignored the First Personal Computer

SMITH, Douglas K. and Robert C. Alexander. Fumbling the Future: How Xerox Invented, Then Ignored, the First Personal Computer. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1988. First Edition, First Printing. First edition, first printing of this important history of the development of personal computing at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) and the company's failure to capitalize commercially on many of the technologies developed there. The copyright page explicitly states “First Edition” and contains the complete number line 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10, confirming the first printing. Smith and Alexander chronicle the development of the Xerox Alto and the groundbreaking work conducted at PARC during the 1970s. The book examines how Xerox researchers helped pioneer technologies and concepts that would become central to modern personal computing while the corporation itself failed to turn that technological lead into dominance of the emerging PC industry. Original hardcover in the original dust jacket. The original $18.95 publisher’s price remains intact on the front flap; the jacket is not price-clipped. Condition: Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. Book remains solid and well preserved. Interior is clean with light age-related toning. Original dust jacket shows light rubbing and surface soiling, with minor edge and corner wear and some creasing, particularly near the lower front edge. Original $18.95 price intact. Please see photographs for precise condition.…