(artifact label – 75 words)
Xerox Notetaker
c. 1976
PARC, United States
Xerox PARC (Xerox Palo Alto Research Center) designer Alan Kay intended
the Notetaker to be a portable universal learning appliance. Built by Doug
Fairbairn, the computer, weighing 48 pounds, featured an internal monitor and
floppy disk drive as well as a mouse. Like the Xerox Alto, the Notetaker used a
version of the Smalltalk-78 operating environment.
The Notetaker’s design set the trend for many later “luggable” computers such
as the Osborne 1 and the Compaq Portable. Xerox built about ten Notetaker
prototypes and never offered the machine for sale as a product.
Artifact Credit: Gift of David Pirogowicz, X748.86
Photo Caption: Alan Kay, c. 1990
Photo Credit: Credit: Alan Kay
Specs:
Memory: TBD
Speed: TBD
Cost: TBD