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What another great example of how this site is one of my favorite!
While working as a police supervisor in the Chief's office I had access to an Apple IIe and used a database from Stonewear that had some interesting features. I reviewed the four commercially available ready-built computers that had just entered this new market: the Apple II (monochrome video display), the Radio Shack Color Computer, the TI 400A, and the Commodore VIC-20. The Apple was the marketed business machine, but had an ugly display, an even uglier version of BASIC, and few bells and whistles. The Radio Shack, as would its successors, had little to offer. The TI was probably the most powerful, it even a had text-to-voice module, but it seemed unlikely to survive as a home computer as it was expensive to expand the system. The clear winner to me was the VIC-20. Starting with a WHOPPING 3.5K of memory, it ran loan programs, games, and had a very easy yet powerful BASIC language. With color, sound and graphics it was a choice that gave me what I wanted (I still have it)--a machine to start my computing experience!
The VIC grew to include a cassette tape drive, then a floppy drive, many expansion cards (like a wordprocessor [Fox], a really cool BASIC editor and memory)--all teatering on a poorly designed external expansion board. I added to 7.5" wide, low-res dot-matrix printer and a few other options (like a joystick) and finally had the memory boosted to maximum--20K.
I skipped the Commodore 64 and 128, marketed some Amigas while marketing manager for a 11-store ComputerLand franchise, and there got my intentonal exposure to the new DOS-based products from IBM. I got to use and watch IBM products grow as the leader, then enter into the final phase of IBM dominance, the AT. Shortly thereafter, I purchased a Compaq Deskpro 386. This machine was the market leader for a while until Compaq also began to lose focus, failed to prepare for some component vendor problems, and lost their rapid leadership hold.
Meanwhile, at IBM, the boys in blue were working hard to prove that the odd-ball, non-compatible 1.2MB floppy would not be the last of the errors they could produce in the DOS world they had created with Uncle Billy. There was the Intel Expanded/Entended specifications, confusing enough to many that even Intel reps could not explain at times. The PC Junior, essentially a DOA system, and IBM's portable computer philosophy that seemed to be bigger, slower, uglier, and, as would their PC and PC-2 lines, less and less "IBM compatible" than the other "IBM compatibles".
As a consultant, with our clients it was a suped-up Everex-based system called Proteus, replaced then by Dell and later by Gateway.
Gateway was my source for all systems since and that includes my current Pentium 4 system.
Along the way, so, so many wonderful DOS programs were discovered that allowed us all to do so many amazaing things. Superkey, Sidekick, PC-Anywhere, Remote, dBASE, Lotus 1-2-3, PC-Tools, Norton, and many others plus a host of hardware system options such as multi-user PCs, multi-monitor PCs, and the then emerging networking--such as 10-Net.
I became an early fan of the PFS series, using all (excepte the home-targeted First Choice) including the integratable Plan, File, Write, Access and Report. dBASE III became the obvious power system and replaced my use of spreadsheets for almost all applications. Despite the reported "power" of many of the wordprocessors, it was PFS: Write and later Professional Write that dominated my choice and recommendation for speed, ease of use and productivity for many clients. Later, when WordPerfect discovered Windows, they finally made a great product. I still sometimes use Write today when I need to do something quickly that I still cannot do in Windows products.
A Software City rep kept extolling the virtues of Q&A 1.0 versus the PFS series (and definitely over the weaker IBM Assistant version of these products). When I got a look, I was an instant believer. Although the companion communication and spreadsheet programs were missing, and a bit of the easier interface, the trade-off was a much, much more powerful and flexible product.
From there, the Q&A versions (DOS only!) and FoxPro became our development tools of choice (skipping Alpha and anything Microsoft). As Windows finally became a somewhat working product in version 3.1, and all the then leaders tried (and failed) to make Windows versions of their products, a clear line emerged. Those that would stop with their initial attempts and buy other companies instead--abandoning the products that built them, and those (like WordPerfect) that would finally find an environment that would allow them to find that magical balance of power and ease of use.
Although I reluctantly use MS-Word (between lockups) and other products, the loss of Q&A, Xtree and other programs that served so well is finally coming full circle. Ztree has arrived and works with gigabyte disks yet still offers the familiar interface, speed and flexibility. And in a world dominated by Access (EEEEE-YUUUUKKKKK!!!!), FileMaker (no, we do it OUR way--so must you!), Alpha 5(a great try--but a bit too many problems and bad interoperability), there finally emerges the long-awaited Sesame!
My biggest regret is that I have yet to be able to spend the time to at length pour threw the product, instead finding moments here and there to work with it, try to migrate to the new philosophies, marvel at some of the ingenuity while I lament the missing elements (macro editor, word processor, etc.), and read with GREAT interest and fascination the threads on this site. Shortly I hope to make Sesame the workhorse that Q&A was for me, my clients and with other programs.
With the great input from users, the supportive attitude of the Lanticans, and the survivability designed into the product, I once again look for experiences with computing from which I marvel and feel the "AAAAAAHHH!" each time I use the product.
A QUESTION: during the early years especially, many very creative concepts evolved that failed in the marketplace and were often later to emerge from a different source. Anyone remember the 3-D point-mouse, early voice command and X-10 modules, and other devices?
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Computer History (Read 18091 times)
