Xerox PARC founder Jacob Goldman dies, 90

The tech world lost yet another luminary this year with the death of Jacob Goldman, founder of the famed innovation hub Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC).

PARC, which Goldman founded in 1970, innovated landmark technological breakthroughs including the first personal computer, object-oriented programming, the graphical user interface, the Ethernet network, laser printing, and the first commercial mouse, tech site Mashable reported.  

Goldman —whose work paved the way for the emergence of tech giants Apple and Microsoft— died Tuesday in Westport, Connecticut, according to Mashable.

 

He was 90 years old when he died of congestive heart failure, Mashable quoted news reports as saying. Dawn of the computer age

 

Goldman, a physicist by training, was Xerox’s chief scientist in the late 1960s when he convinced the company to start a laboratory dedicated to scientific research.

 

The research center also allowed scientists the freedom to develop ground-breaking ideas and discoveries in a research setting "unfettered by business considerations."

 

“He was the one that made sure that Xerox understood that there was a revolution coming behind them that might change their business,” The New York Times quoted Michael Hiltzik, author of the book Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age.

 

However, Xerox could not translate most of the PARC scientists’ work into products marketed to consumers and businesses.

 

Inspiration to Steve Jobs

 

Author Walter Isaacson, in his biography of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, narrated that Jobs had marveled at PARC technology during a visit to the center in 1979.

 

“You’re sitting on a gold mine. I can’t believe Xerox is not taking advantage of this,” he quoted Jobs as saying about the graphical user interface (GUI).

 

The GUI eventually became a key component of Apple’s Lisa and Macintosh products.

 

Mashable added Goldman would later rue Xerox’s inability to capitalize on PARC breakthroughs and foresight.

 

“A big company will not make the investment to bring out a new product unless they see it makes a big difference,” he told The New Haven Advocate in 1988. “Look at the personal computer industry today. It’s a multibillion-dollar industry today. And we at Xerox could have had that industry to ourselves.”

 

PARC now operates as an independent subsidiary of Xerox, working on new technologies for business clients. The New York Times obituary noted that Goldman is survived by his wife, Rhoda Miller Goldman; his children, Melvin, Edith and Beth; his stepsons, Shalom, Ari, and Dov; a sister, Judy Crystal; eight grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren. — TJD, GMA News