Rumours from Silicon Valley suggest Xerox may be selling off crown jewel, the venerable research laboratory known as Xerox PARC (for Palo Alto Research Center). Xerox PARC gave birth to the personal computer in a form that has remained unchanged in essence for 30 years. The mouse, the laser printer, Ethernet, the networking protocol that lets many computers exchange information - all came from PARC.

The only reason all computers aren't known as Xerox computers is because the company foolishly opted not to commercialise what executives saw as peripheral products.

Xerox has attempted to reinvent itself as a digital leader, but seems to be having problems. It would be a hard blow for sentimental techies to see PARC disappear.