#Xerox

Yes, that Xerox which also produced photocopiers, and had permeated Filipino tech slang to refer to said machines. So, next time you say "pa-Xerox naman," you might want to be aware that it is a trademarked name. Going back, it was through Apple's exchange with Xerox, a three-day access to PARC for pre-IPO stocks with Apple, which helped Jobs and his team develop their new kind of PC. Apparently, they were not so much on the lookout for photocopying machines, but for Xerox PARC's computers. For all intents and purposes, Xerox Alto was considered as the world's first computer with graphical user interface (GUI), a system that allows users to interact with their devices through visual icons and audio prompts instead of being purely text-based. Xerox Alto, on the other hand, introduced the mouse as we use it today, and featured one of the first networked multiplayer games, the Alto Trek. In retrospect, some would like to argue that Xerox received less benefits from this instance of coopetition than did Apple. Xerox Alto was apparently not geared for commercial purposes, but Apple's next PC was. Read more in our articles including "The Apple Journey: From near Bankruptcy to World's Biggest Tech Company" and "BPI partners with Robinsons Retail for barcode cash deposits in stores".