‘Star Wars’ technology a force in business

After filming the first “Star Wars” movie with special effects far from special, George Lucas spent millions of dollars to develop a complete digital editing system to populate his sequels with armies of X-wing fighters and Gungan warriors.

Then, he virtually gave it away.

“We were 10 years ahead of the commercial reality,” said Bob Doris, co-general manager of Lucas’ computer division during the mid 1980s.

So Lucas — with C-3PO, above — sold many of his technologies for cheap. The technologies later would appear in home stereos, cell phones, medical imaging devices and virtually every Hollywood studio, driving billion-dollar companies and employing thousands of people.

Apple Computer Inc. chief executive Steve Jobs paid $10 million for the team that became Pixar Inc., and the movie company went on to make $3 billion at the box office.

And so it goes with Lucas, famous for saying, “I’m not a venture capitalist.”

Economy

Retail sales growth boosts optimism

Retail sales jumped 1.4 percent in April, the strongest showing in six months, as consumers streamed back into shopping malls in what was viewed as a signal that this year’s slowdown was short-lived.

The Commerce Department said Thursday that the April increase in sales showed widespread strength across a number of retail categories and followed a weak 0.4 percent advance in March.

Previous indicators had raised concerns that the economy, hit by a surge in energy prices, could be entering another period of weakness similar to what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan had called a “soft patch” in 2004.

But the big jump in retail sales followed reports of a better-than-expected performance on trade and a big jump of 274,000 jobs in April.

“The soft patch isn’t looking as soft as we thought it was,” said economist David Wyss.