Xerox Star changed the direction of computing by connecting personal workstations to a local network in order to attach shared resources. With the introduction of the “desktop metaphor” they were able to make icons on the Star desktop resemble everyday physical objects that can be found around an office. This way, users are more familiar with digital concepts like folders, documents, in and out baskets, etc because these articles would normally be held on their real life desk “top.”
Xerox Star developers assumed that office professionals would only occasionally use the system, rather than people who spent most of their time at the machine. There’s some irony in their assumptions as the work life balance has evolved throughout the years and switched to primarily digital work. Of course the Star can be credited as one of the most successful inventions to come out of the Xerox PARC research group. It heavily influenced the work of Apple and Microsoft who capitalized on their GUI and mouse advancements.
