John Seely Brown is a man who takes his time to answer questions. But ask him if he thinks Bill Gates would have made a good addition to Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, one of the world's most forward-thinking research institutions, and he doesn't even pause to think.
"Gates is not a technological innovator; he's a business innovator," Brown says. "He also doesn't know how to fit technology to people."
Instead, Brown says Gates is quick to fit people to technology - a problem he says is rampant throughout the computer industry today.
Since its start in 1970, PARC has been about coming up with technologies that fit into society, says Brown, who joined the team in 1978 as an artificial intelligence researcher.
Brown became the director of PARC in 1990. He feels that it is very important to pick researchers that have more than just a strong science background. Among the more than 300 researchers, there are artists, linguists, anthropologists, physicists and mathematicians.
His enthusiasm for both the arts and sciences has led PARC to take on some polar-opposite projects, including advanced biological programs and the PARC Artist in Residence Program. "We've brought artists here to work with researchers," he says. "We're figuring out how to bring the physical and social network together."
Already, the mix has lead PARC to change its focus for innovating. "In the '90s we focused on individuals and objects," he says. "Now we're looking at the white space between people."
Brown says today's technology is like looking through two paper towel holders. "All peripheral vision is killed. After a while you go nuts because you have no peripheral vision. That's where technology is right now - driving us nuts."
But rather than taking technology down a notch, Brown says we need to pump up the information that computers are dispensing. "We need to amplify what's happening around us," he says, balking at the idea that this will add to what some term "information overload."
"What we have right now is an information underload," he says. "If we were receiving too much information we would learn to filter it out."
He looks out the picture windows of his office overlooking the Stanford University foothills. "When I look out that window, the trees don't have to tell me they're changing," he says. "But I know they are. When I'm riding a motorcycle, I'm aware of all that's happening around me, yet each thing isn't telling me what it's doing."
"We need our computers to do the same," he says. He tosses a glance to his assistant. "She wastes far too much time dealing with failed computers. The total cost of ownership for these computers is eating me alive. Under the guise of efficiency, we've created inefficiencies."
But Brown thinks this complexity in computers will soon pass. "Computers will disappear and go into the woodwork ... literally. They'll be on walls and all over the place."
With this change will come the need for something beyond IP, he says. "A new fabric will have to be orchestrated," he says. "That fabric will allow you to easily connect millions and millions of devices automatically. We need to make things simpler to hook up and administer."
Xerox can take PARC to the bank
This year, Xerox will invest more than $1.7 billion in research. In years past, that money would have had little to no return from PARC because the research facility didn't lay claim to its notorious inventions.
For instance, in 1979, then-researcher Bob Metcalfe left PARC and took Ethernet with him. He started up 3Com, which made its name and its billions from selling Ethernet products. That same year, Steve Jobs took what he had seen during a tour of PARC - a computer that featured a graphical user interface and a mouse - and launched the Mac.
Today, Brown is counting on 25% of PARC's projects to be able to spin off products for parent company Xerox. In fact, Xerox has a start-up fund venture called Xerox New Enterprises that helps get products like these off the ground.
But Brown doesn't have any regrets about his past losses. He kicks off his shoes, throws them up on his gray office couch, leans back in his chair and tucks his hands behind his head. He pauses.
"Which would you rather be at right now: Xerox or Apple?" he asks and then flashes a broad smile.
"We're now responsible for $12 to $13 billion of revenue at Xerox," he says. "And we have become much better at protecting our intellectual property."
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