History
of Computing, 1980s, ver. 2
Pesky PCs – Toys or Appliances?
Pesky PCs – Toys or Appliances?
vBy 1985, PCs and their
tools (WordStar, 1-2-3 (VisiCalc) and dBase) were starting to make users think in
new ways.
ØFirst,
although they only addressed special needs, these applications
also were dramatically easier to learn and use than mainframe
applications. And, the tools could be used to build custom
applications –
²Why wait for MIS to build a forecasting system, when
your
local hacker can build the same system in three days?
local hacker can build the same system in three days?
²Why wait, when the 3-day system will be easier to use,
more flexible and run on cheaper
hardware?
²And, why wait when the MIS system will take two years, cost tens of thousands of dollars, and then be too expensive
to run anyway?
vIn 1985 PCs were not
applicable to business computing: they could not be used to build
run-the-business applications.
ØFirst
(and most important), PC applications couldn’t share data.
ØSecond,
they were not capable of handling large amounts of data.