Ft..lf the

To: D ..

P~dt:ry

X£ROX

PALO .:\}.;T() Ji}-~i-:'~RCH CTh"'"IE{

OlTitt ofthc C.(~ ~~

24

Aprii

1979

Ft..lf the

l-~ fe~ y~.,:) ^'(:tiT E~~-Frr-~t:t. Su~~ ~~c-=0;~it; }l~vc i.cf~-rtd

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of tht:

'J-!u~rie

iri ':an increasingly_

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ullSlness"l

^{iOOi4U ~w!egy}

P'lC'fkll"tu

vylta.Jl~!I115'~· re~C1~!O::· ~ng:

nOffiC ~ .

and

~ rt'~-ket:

oriented infon.natkm·

S)'~~ "J~Iodtk.~~ ~

an

in:$JF~tirni

ut110rtunity fOE

us,,: '

c.{~~~

tfiC

CUITerA" tm~J3IDrity

oime market and Ule

"I~10-

pdiOd

d~-:~;~~;f(1985':·

1990+1I1j};~~,Me::~~fJ: ~bie.:.~~ielines. for- Re5-\~tdL:_,~Th-e)~'.se:ta~·~·.~

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witr:..nut.

un~~bly;;

sp(;CH}ing

ta~ n.'ltpt"~

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tecl:!oc~k$.a ~~.-

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^\'rOtSi (t:'Jllrse:-

from my poifit of

t1CW. n~.Jld

be tD

~lmit

the

^free

publKstion of ,)ur

\\'ork while, at the sau]c

tiine~

doing nothing to utiliz"" it t)u!$t:i¥e5. Smal!talk.

f.S

yOU.

~now$

is

a1~dy

well

pubHci.z~d

We get rontinu..=ti

f;;qtlests

for both detailed

ustr~levcl.

ilescriptior.:S and.

^rr1{)te

fhndamentaUy! for the act..d it-nplementing WOe. We

ha"~1: ~

so

far~ ptQ't<ided

this informa1.ion.. l1tt

~"'{~::e

of OuT interest in

someL~

!ike

NDtct~d" ~~ been L~ ~;:t

in

the sc-icnti[~

a::n;-ununhy. We

have

.r:..ctrJll.to reccive.

tt:ntaih;e~·inquirit3 aQoaJt

it. \Ve mve n-ot pubLidj cle&:ribed it.

For

19E.u~

our current

~cl1

plans

f~n

fm PRr:jects which -will

.~

"the

~--;.::.i1~~t.·.J.t§.~~.:&1""~~~~ r.,.,-",-i~ in r.:;::.L~ ~~ .... ~~ r.-l~~ roI'- DA f;;'" Tho. A,...,.'"l,;,,·

of' ...

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wpel·i.tti~ts

have not

yr:t

C..rf:n

C~yc1Gp.,.~

SO SfY.:ne

lJndc.~1?!ltiing

of the C.orporntivrts

(}lh.~n~

intentions fut

r;O~")n:il aYillPUu:r~

v,1ll k imPC11w.t fur

~.Jf pl>l~~jng ptOt,.~:

'.

A SIM11WklNOletaker

S)"stcm

w~y have no CG~~ va11~ I ,iliJ~t judic...~But i . .can.~ .

. ,Jen YQltl1-~_~'rith

ful).

rl~~ (.}Q~HJl'y L~.ri$lng) ? W1i1U ~~-ne.~

(:uluputer tL.--npany

c-uHld pfC;'Jabiy Pay-e one on m~ rr.~ct. in abG~t a yw~' If

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ac;c.ptbl §: IDOi-e"'i6#mve

• ' ; ' t'" . . "'- ~~ ~ rl }-.:. " r .. . ~ .JJ ... r;r ' .

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;;*-0

^{to 1Tircc} ye:~~ ill

·c.opy

^·ft \!l'~~

~dntcd

to). .

To freely

purn~sh

• if a .Xt:l~(( pi()d~~ preg..1~rn ~iil make 'n~:

-term.

Use

of the'

illfQrrua~

2

Internal IVlemo

To ^From

Jeff Rulifson Richard J. Hayes

Sub:ect Date

Spinrad/Pendery Memo dtd.

1+/21+/79

lv\ay 3, 1979

Jeff, as we discussed,

I

would like you to develop a TIP position with regard to the questions raised on home information systems/personal computers by Bob Spinrad.

In your response, please explain

the HnotetakerH

concept and status. Also comment on each of the options raised by Bob as background for your

Could you get this to me by May 30th? Thanks.

"\...

RJH:n \./

Attach:

I'

.--[0

Lt·

Inter-Office !\'lcIllorandum

To " R. Hayes Date !vfay 21. 1979

From 1.F. Rulifson Location Palo Alto

Subject Smallta1k/NbteTaker Publication Policy Organization SSL

XEROX

Filed on:

<

^CRedcll

>

Hayes.bravo

From my knowledgc of corporate positions on publications. familiarity with corporate plans through the Technology I.nvestment Planning effort. and my understanding of Smalltalk/NoteTaker. I believc Dr. Spinrad should encourage free publication of the Smal!talk/NoteTalcr activities. ! wouid iike to ex.piain this view by discussing the technologicai content of Smal1talk/NoteTaker and then addressing each of the options in detai1.

SmJiitaik is a system comprised of a mctilutioiogy for progrJIH modubrization. a programming language, and an interactive program construction environment. rIlle system has been fully implemented on Altos for a number of years. rIlle system is based on :m unusual programming formalism called object representation. It is a significant departure from" the dominant procedure f0I111alism of Cobol. Fortran, Basic, Pascal, and Mesa. or the applicative fonl1Jlism of APL and Lisp. SmJIlLalk has been widely publicized. l11e programming manual h:!s been cleared for distribution, application programs have been presented through films. programming classes have been taught in Palo Alto public schools, the system was described in Scientific American. and the object representation formalism has been argued in the professional literature. Xerox could

r

copyright the software interpreter and programming environment for aU visual. magnetic. and electronic media. The corporation could then sell or lic~nse the right to reproduce tllC software and effectively control its distribution.

..:>maiHaIK/Nolc lal\cr l"llbllc;l(Jon Policy

2

NoteTaker, on the other hand. is not a significant technical departure from current marketed personal computer systems nor has it been publicized. Simply. NoteTaker is Intel 8086 processors.

memory, a display, standard floppy disks. and an Ethernet connection. (See manual.) It is packaged in a wen-designed portable case with rechargeable batteries. Prototype machines are operating. and we expect to produce about ten machines this year. The Patent Department here in Palo Alto has discussed NoteTaker with the designers at PARCo They have not discovered any potentially patentable inventions. Even if Lhere .:Ire- no inventions to be patented. Xerox can sen

or

license the know-how of design and construction.

Thus, XDC may wish to sell or license certain parts of the system, specifically. the SlnaIltalk software interpreter and -programming system for the 8086, or the No~eTaker hardware design. In either case. software or hard'.."are, I doubt that XDC would choose to vend the product directly. It seems more appropriate. f~ example. for XDC to sell this product to a personal computer cornpany that would. in turn. manuf..1cture m:1chines utilizing the design they bought fi-orn Xerox. It is my personal clnd somewhat uninfolmed guess that XDC would not cllOose ⁽⁰ sell or license either of these two items. We must. howcvcr, verify this with them. If you provide Inc with the appropriate XDC contact, I would be pleased to investigate further.

PIlle other option that might inhibit publications also seems untenable. As far as I know. Xcrox has no p1ans whatevcr to enter the home tnarket will} thc product. If I as..;;ume th~lt it would takc at lcast a year to establish a product program. and at least four years to analyze the market, design.

produce, tcst. and prcpare to lT~arket a product, I can only assume it will be after 1985 before a product can he sold. rnlUS. wc will not make ncar term use of the technology in a product program.

1v1embcrs of the Learning Research Group have expressed concerns about the future of tlleir r

program. A very important part of thc Smalltalk/NoteTaker research plans caU for extensive experimentation with the system in environments outside Xerox. Thus. the researchers \';"i511 to furnish Uleir colleagues with Smalltalk/NoteTaker systems and recover the cost of Ule hardware.

This experimentation will caU for complete international clearance, especi.:llly of the book in

3

preparation: the particip:mts ,at universities and public schools cannot easily be selected and controlled. The VLSIISystems Group has a similar plan. They would like to make NoteTaker machines available to their colleagues as VLSI design aids. So you can see the dilemma we m~iy

face. TI1C Smal1talk/NotcTaker project was begun to enable the experiinents. If XDC wishes to sell the Small talk interpreter, for example. the decision may affect the research program before the experiments begin.

\Ve must check witJl XDC. but it is my guess that there is no near tenn Xerox-wide commercial

.

interest, and following Dr. Spinrad's outline of the options. Pare researchers should be encouraged to freely publish their Smalltalk/NoteTaker work.

XEROX

Inter-Office IVlenlorandum

To R. Hayes Date May 31, 1979

From 1. Rulifson Location Palo Alto

Subject Smalltalk/NoteTaker Publication Policy Organization SSL

On May 29, 1979, I d:scussed the XDC interest in Smalltalk/NoteTaker publication policy issues with Walter Menctrey. To my surprise, XDC has a significant interest in Small talk programming systems. Their interest, however, is not incompatible with the publication policy sought by the Learning Research Group at Pare, namely, freely publish.

XDC has an active interest in personal computing, has made specific contacts, and is formulating investment objectives. As I understand their position, they do not view Smalltalk/NoteTaker as a potential means of creating direct revenue for Xerox. TIlat is, they do not have an interest in direct sale or licensing. 'Ibey seem to have no interest in a NoteTaker design license. 'Dley do believe that the results of the Smalltalk project might be useful as a way of focusing Xerox strategic planning, leveraging Xerox relationships with a company we may support financially, or directly enhancing the image or marketing position of tlle company we support.

Mr. Menetrey suggested that the Leatlling Research Group plan for such activity and fully protect Xerox through the usc of copyrights. Ultimately, tlle publication policy will encourage broad exposure of their work. Over the next three months the Learning Research Group should practice publication restraint. They should always copyright to guard the business goals of the potential Xerox partner.

This matter is of some urgency for XDC. and they have agreed to review their Smalltalk and position quickly.· To that end, Frank La Haye and Roy Lahr will visit the Learning Research Group to team first hand the current status of the project.

srnal1t3.1k/NoleTaker Publication Policy

2

I believe we have reached a position in substance with respect to XOC. lbe Learning Research Group should be encouraged to publish. Final details of the position must await the XDC analysis of their visit.

c: W. Menetrey F. La Haye R. Lahr A. Kay

JF/cgl

At-I<Ui\ Internal M-emo

To From

R.. J. Spinrad D. W. Pendery

Subject Date

Personal -Computers July 6~

1979

Re: 24 April 1979 Memo, RJS to DWP

Bob, I apologize for taking so long to respond to your request about the publication policy to be followed with regard to the PARC work on Home Information Systems/Personal Computers.

We ha.ve discussed the s-ituatlon with Legal and XDC; as well a.s our own staff. The resulting position is that you should plan to freely publish this material.

There are some minor caveats which I would like to bring to your attention 1.vith regard to XDC. Although they have no in- terest in direct sale or licensing, I understand they might want to uSe the SV~LLTALK project as a leverage factor in some

potential external financing possibility. This would not restrict the freely publish policy~ but it is suggesting that PARC fully protect Xerox through the use of copyrights.

Jeff RuLifson has been handling this assignment for us, and I suggest you might want to discuss it in more detail with him.

I understand he has arranged to have XDC people meet with the PARe people to review the project.

Thus, in response to your specific question, we would encourage PARC to freely publish material _in the area of personal computers~

z : . . . n lY to the copyright protection requested by XDC.

DWP:mb

c: A DStauffer RJHayes JRulifson GEPake

DHSteininger

~

BSutherland / ' WMenetrey

GRWhite