In the mythology of the Networked World, Xerox PARC was Camelot. And King Arthur was John Seely Brown.

Yesterday, my partner, Dr. Virginia Kuhn, and I saw ‘J.S.B.’ as he is widely known, speak at USC, where he is an Annenberg Fellow, about the conditions that led to the breakthrough work by the barefoot geeks at Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) from the 1970s through the 90s. Much of what he talked about had a familiar ring, and not just because PARC is legendary. Turns out their work, and their culture, were highly improvisational in nature. I grokked it like crazy. (more…)