Their first step was to do something PARC had never tried before: They analyzed how non-engineers would actually use a computer. This survey was conducted back at Ginn, to which Mott returned with an Alto display, keyboard, and mouse. He installed them as a sort of dummy setup (the machine was nonfunctional) and invited editors to seat themselves in front of the equipment, imagine they were editing on-line, and describe what they expected it to do. “They were a little skeptical,” he recalled. “But—surprise, surprise—what you got was them wanting the machine to mimic what they would do on
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