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The Silicon Jungle by David H. Rothman
5. Some people in large companies think software houses don’t give
The Silicon Jungle by David H. Rothman
5. Some people in large companies think software houses don’t give
Chapter 36
13 words
Chapters
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Chapter 2: Chapter 7 and Backup VII, you’ll learn (1) the basics, (2) when charts
Chapter 3: Chapter 12, “How I Found ‘God’ on MCI (and a Few Other Odds and Ends
Chapter 4: 1. Bigger RAMs can work with more and larger numbers—a handy capability
Chapter 5: 2. More RAM can accommodate programs more complicated for the computer.
Chapter 6: 3. You may want the most sophisticated software to thwart computer
Chapter 7: 1. You can quickly make safety copies of valuable disks—something that’s
Chapter 8: 2. You can more easily work with long electronic documents.
Chapter 9: 1. Absence of bugs. The software maker should have gotten all the bugs
Chapter 10: 2. General ease of use. A program should be easy enough to learn _and_
Chapter 11: 3. Good documentation. The manual should be clear and logically
Chapter 12: 4. Usefulness to beginners and old pros alike. You can adjust the best
Chapter 13: 5. Speed. It lets you do your job fast, especially when you use it with
Chapter 14: 6. Power. Related to speed. The program can quickly accomplish
Chapter 15: 7. Fewer chances for botch-ups. Good programs limit the chances for
Chapter 16: 8. The Jewish-uncle effect. Ideally, your software will slow you down or
Chapter 17: 10. After-the-goof feedback. After you’ve botched up—and we all do
Chapter 18: 11. Ability to customize. You or at least a software expert can
Chapter 19: 12. Availability of “accessory” programs to make your original software
Chapter 20: 13. Support. Ideally, the software seller will stand behind his product
Chapter 21: 1. A =cursor= is just the marker on your screen—a blinking line,
Chapter 22: 2. A =file= is an electronic version of a letter, report, or other
Chapter 23: 3. A =control key= is what you start holding down to turn a letter or
Chapter 24: 4. To =scroll= just means to move from place to place in your
Chapter 25: 5. A =menu= lists commands on your screen. It can tell you how to
Chapter 26: 6. A =block move= is the ability to move material from one part of
Chapter 27: 8. A =search and replace= substitutes one word (or group of words) for
Chapter 28: 1. When you work for a stuffy old bureaucracy that’s rich and afraid
Chapter 29: 2. When you’re a procurement officer on probation. As they say, no
Chapter 30: 3. When you want to dump the training problems in the manufacturer’s
Chapter 31: 4. When you prefer an extra-large, extra-sharp screen and giant
Chapter 32: 5. When you’re looking for a machine that will run special software
Chapter 33: 1. It takes all of two or three minutes—maybe less—to copy a disk
Chapter 34: 3. Computer users want to befriend others with similar machines so
Chapter 35: 4. Many software companies overprice their wares. Yes, it’s expensive
Chapter 36: 5. Some people in large companies think software houses don’t give
Chapter 37: 6. Many software companies don’t offer enough guidance or other help.
Chapter 38: 2. A file in a data base is the electronic version of a file drawer or
Chapter 39: 3. A =field= is a category of fact like the amount of money spent on
Chapter 40: 4. =Structure= is simply the way a record is set up. There are three big
Chapter 41: 5. The EDIT command changes the contents of a data field. You can type
Chapter 42: 6. A command to APPEND can add new records to your electronic filing
Chapter 43: 7. =Sorting= lets you reshuffle records alphabetically, by date or other
Chapter 44: 8. The LIST command tells dBASE II to flash across the screen the
Chapter 45: 9. .AND. helps you narrow down the information you’re looking for or
Chapter 46: 10. .OR. is another way to describe the desired facts. LIST FOR
Chapter 47: 11. LIST FOR .NOT. SALE:PERSN = ‘BABBITT’ could help weed from view, or
Chapter 48: 12. =Command files= are programs that tell the machine how to manipulate
Chapter 49: 1. A large number of rows and columns. A spreadsheet of 254 rows and 65
Chapter 50: 2. Speed. “Even with a simple spreadsheet,” says Scharf, “someone might
Chapter 51: 3. General simplicity and ease of use. In tricky places, does the
Chapter 52: 4. Range of commands. Most spreadsheets nowadays let you easily move or
Chapter 53: 5. The ability to do what-if tables. The best spreadsheets won’t just
Chapter 54: 6. Easy consolidation of figures from different spreadsheets. That’s no
Chapter 55: 7. =Natural order of recalculation.= Cells must influence the numbers in
Chapter 56: 8. A useful =macro language=. Macros are combinations of commands that
Chapter 57: 1. Deciding whether to hire a computer consultant. How much in your time
Chapter 58: 2. Hiring and using a consultant. It isn’t just a matter of asking,
Chapter 59: 3. Training employees. Don’t clutter your people’s minds with
Chapter 60: 4. Working with your company’s data-processing people. Know which
Chapter 61: 1. The computer company’s FORTRAN, according to Stewart, was as badly
Chapter 62: 2. FORTRAN wasn’t as good as BASIC for micro data bases that stashed
Chapter 63: 3. Brown was still basically a mainframer. And micro FORTRAN was
Chapter 64: 3. “What’s the quality of the work?
Chapter 65: 1. Who’s teaching? Can he or she communicate well with the students, and
Chapter 66: 3. Why is the material taught? To make your people computer literate in
Chapter 67: 4. When do the students learn? On their time or yours? Will you reward
Chapter 68: 5. Where is the learning happening? Ideally, your students can take the
Chapter 69: 6. How do the students learn? Through instruction manuals, mainly, or
Chapter 70: 1. Even the best-intentioned companies may fail miserably in easing some
Chapter 71: 2. The traits which make somebody valuable to his company _may_ be the
Chapter 72: 3. At the same time you can’t stereotype anyone—by age, folksiness, or
Chapter 73: 4. An important part of training is simple salesmanship—persuading the
Chapter 74: 5. Don’t make computerization seem more threatening than it has to be.
Chapter 75: 6. As early as possible start people on real projects. The first day at
Chapter 76: 2. Helped them with some learning aids like color-coded keys showing
Chapter 77: 3. Motivated them by explaining how their new computer skills would make
Chapter 78: 1. Before approaching Data Processing, ask who-how questions about the
Chapter 79: 2. Ask your informal Data-Processing contact about possible technical
Chapter 80: 3. When you’re ready to deal with the Data-Processing manager, tell
Chapter 81: 4. Make it clear you’re aware of your project’s complications.
Chapter 82: 1. =The canary-in-the-mine= theory of labor relations. Ergonomics is
Chapter 83: 3. =“Terminal” happiness.= Detachable keyboards are just a start,
Chapter 84: 7. =Air conditioning, heating, and ventilation=—basics neglected by a
Chapter 85: 8. Honest assurances to your people that you’re exposing them to the
Chapter 86: 9. A willingness to consider alternatives to the TV-like CRTs that
Chapter 87: 10. Sensible use of wrinkles like the mouse—the hand-sized gizmo you use
Chapter 88: 11. A related ingredient, good software—the topic of earlier chapters.
Chapter 89: 2. How far the keyboard platform protrudes from the platform on which
Chapter 90: 4. The angle at which the screen faces you. You can swivel away to your
Chapter 91: 5. The height of your chair. You don’t of course need high-tech
Chapter 92: 1. Removing half the tubes from existing fluorescent fixtures. You’ll
Chapter 93: 2. Parabolic fluorescent fixtures with baffles to keep the light out of
Chapter 94: 3. Parawedge louvers, which, according to Eisen, “have been particularly
Chapter 95: 4. Desk and floor lamps. You might buy rheostats you can plug in between
Chapter 96: 5. Indirect lighting. The disadvantage is the expense. You may have to
Chapter 97: 1. Coatings or etching applied during manufacture of the video displays.
Chapter 98: 2. Coatings put on after manufacture. Generally, but not always, they
Chapter 99: 3. “Colored plastic panels and etched faceplates,” which, says Eisen,
Chapter 100: 4. Micromesh filters, favored by German ergonomists. Eisen says U.S.
Chapter 101: 5. Polarizing filters. They may reduce brightness and shorten tube life,
Chapter 102: 1. There is a possibility, extra-slim, but still there, that
Chapter 103: 2. More minor physical and mental problems from computers definitely do
Chapter 104: 6. The possibility of a detached retina
Chapter 105: 3. Guarding your electronic files
Chapter 106: 1. Burden programmers and others with electronic versions of heavy
Chapter 107: 2. Keep their computer systems easy to use—and vulnerable. (“Then you’re
Chapter 108: 3. Compromise. (“You get half raped.”)
Chapter 109: 1. How hard, exactly, would it be to puzzle out? Just how many
Chapter 110: 2. How compatible is the program with your computer? If security is so
Chapter 111: 3. Is the security program easy to use? If it’s too hard, it’ll be
Chapter 112: 4. Are you certain the program won’t jeopardize the accuracy and
Chapter 113: 5. Should you expand your system, will the security software be able to
Chapter 114: 6. Do you want a =public key= encryption system? It works this way. You
Chapter 115: 7. Will your code be based on the =Data Encryption Standard= (=DES=),
Chapter 116: 1. See if your disk has a file at least 500 or 600 words long. If so,
Chapter 117: 3. Erase A.
Chapter 118: 1. Zealously enforce a no-drinking, no-eating policy around disks, at
Chapter 119: 2. Remember the Rothman Dirt Domino Theory. Dirt, dust, and grease often
Chapter 120: 3. Realize that floppies don’t always mix well with office materials
Chapter 121: 4. Know about other natural enemies of floppies or at least of the data
Chapter 122: 5. Don’t even let your floppies rest against your computer’s screen,
Chapter 123: 6. Remember that the more information you can pack on a floppy, the more
Chapter 124: 7. Clean your disk heads. Don’t use rubbing alcohol. “Try something like
Chapter 125: 8. Have head alignment checked, to reduce disk errors. With heads out of
Chapter 126: 9. Buy quality disks. Of course, the more you spend on disks, the more
Chapter 127: 1. Every five minutes or so, type out the “KS” or an equivalent and dump
Chapter 128: 2. Every half an hour make a printout of your recent work. With a fast
Chapter 129: 3. Every day make your backup floppy. You might forget about the scratch
Chapter 130: 1. Dumping to floppies. It’s cheap but slow. Then again, you can speed
Chapter 131: 2. Transferring the Winchester’s contents to a special tape drive large
Chapter 132: 3. Dumping to an ordinary videocassette recorder. Although slow, it’s
Chapter 133: 1. How much time or money does it take to enter your data or set up your
Chapter 134: 3. How much time or money do you have for copying, cleaning,
Chapter 135: 1984. Many more companies might be. They might have kept quiet, however,
Chapter 136: 1. The cottage keyers are paying more than $2,600 a year to rent their
Chapter 137: 3. Likewise, the cottage keyers lack the normal fringe benefits. The
Chapter 138: 4. The keyers may not be sharing the experiment’s rewards fifty-fifty.
Chapter 139: 1. Ease and speed of use. You needn’t be a computer expert or wrestle
Chapter 140: 2. Friendliness. A good system isn’t just easy to use; it’s also boy
Chapter 141: 4. Confidentiality. Clerks aren’t privy to the same information as the
Chapter 142: 1985. They’d be able to place mutual-fund orders for clients, conduct
Chapter 143: 1. Lower phone bills. In a Midwestern office of the H. J. Heinz Company,
Chapter 144: 2. Elimination of telephone tag. “We can type a memo at the end of our
Chapter 145: 3. An end to garbled messages. Errors and misunderstandings decline when
Chapter 146: 4. More efficient sharing of ideas. =Computer conferencing= is an
Chapter 147: 1. How long a Kaypro took to sort dBASE II files electronically while
Chapter 148: 3. How long a second Kaypro needed to sort the dBASE files in the first
Chapter 149: 1. How extensive do you want your network’s file-sharing capabilities to
Chapter 150: 2. Who’ll manage the network? Who’ll determine who can see what
Chapter 151: 3. Do you want to assign special network-related duties to other people?
Chapter 152: 4. Who will work at what =node=? That’s jargon for a location or =work
Chapter 153: 5. Will some people share work stations? If so, you’d better decide
Chapter 154: 7. How many printers and other gizmos will people share, and where will
Chapter 155: 8. What kinds of computers are you planning to hook up? The WEB as of
Chapter 156: chapter 11, but subject to court approval, would be bought by a Swedish
Chapter 157: 1. If your computer messes up, remember the very last thing you did,
Chapter 158: 2. See if that isn’t the answer to your problem.
Chapter 159: 1. Know your prices. Study the want ads of the local papers. There’s
Chapter 160: 2. Pay attention to the machine’s physical condition. A banged-up
Chapter 161: 3. Find out how your pet programs run. If you don’t have any available
Chapter 162: 5. Find out what generation of equipment it is. Does it include all
Chapter 163: 6. Learn where you stand legally if you’re buying software with the
Chapter 164: 7. Call up commercial auctioneers and find out if they’re holding any
Chapter 165: 8. Obviously you’ll want to consider a maintenance agreement with a
Chapter 166: 1. Another daisy wheel machine. The daisy wheel is plastic or metal and
Chapter 167: 2. A =laser printer=. Typically, it works a bit like some copying
Chapter 168: 3. A =thermal-transfer printer=. This uses patterns of heat to arrange
Chapter 169: 4. An =ink-jet printer=. This kind literally squirts ink against the
Chapter 170: 1. =Draft quality.= The letters are too dotty for anything but drafts
Chapter 171: 2. =Correspondence quality.= It’ll do for a letter to a forgiving friend
Chapter 172: 3. =Near-letter quality.= You can get away with it for book manuscripts,
Chapter 173: 4. =Letter quality.= That’s typewriter quality.
Chapter 174: 1. Does the printer offer them no matter what computer or program you
Chapter 175: 3. For free, will the store modify your computer system to make the
Chapter 176: 4. Will your desired combinations of features work simultaneously?
Chapter 177: 2. If not, can the store make one up for you? At what cost?
Chapter 178: 1. The general logic of the manual. The author should have written it
Chapter 179: 2. The quality of the index. I’ll charitably assume it’s there to begin
Chapter 180: 3. Simplicity of vocabulary and sentence structure. A manual shouldn’t
Chapter 181: 1. The field may only contain certain numbers and/or letters—for
Chapter 182: 2. The field will _enter itself_ based on your previous entries. For
Chapter 183: 3. The field can be a constant. For example, if your data record
Chapter 184: 4. The field can automatically shift cases for you. For example, you
Chapter 185: 5. The field can insist that whatever you type in is identical two
Chapter 186: 6. The field can be required—something that you _have_ to enter, or
Chapter 187: 1. Does the program help you come up with pies, bars, or whatever kind
Chapter 188: 2. Can it do so as quickly as possible?
Chapter 189: 3. Does the program fit in well with your other software?
Chapter 190: 4. How much memory space does the program—and the electronic files of
Chapter 191: 5. What about the program’s color capabilities—both on screen and on
Chapter 192: 6. Does the program coexist okay with the printer or plotter you own or
Chapter 193: 7. How easy is the program to learn? What about the other general traits
Chapter 194: 1. “Who?” Who from the contracting firm is doing the work? A junior
Chapter 195: 2. “What?” Describe the task as clearly and precisely as possible. And
Chapter 196: 3. “When?” Can you negotiate a penalty if the firm misses a deadline?
Chapter 197: 4. “Where?” Will the consultants do the work in your office? Theirs? On
Chapter 198: 5. “How much?” Obvious.
Chapter 199: 1. Thinking small. Don’t bargain over the Who-How simply for the whole
Chapter 200: 2. Making the consultant give you the source code of the new software.
Chapter 201: 3. Insisting that any manuals for his software be complete and in plain
Chapter 202: 4. Bargaining if possible for a software warranty. Then, if you discover
Chapter 203: 5. Possibly requiring the consultant to give you a discount on
Chapter 204: 6. Negotiating for full or part ownership of the software he may develop
Chapter 205: 7. Forbidding the consultant from selling the new software to your
Chapter 206: 8. Making the consultant pledge that he won’t violate any trade-secret
Chapter 207: 9. Hammering out a confidentiality agreement, if necessary, to protect
Chapter 208: 10. Making the consultant agree in writing that he is working as your
Chapter 209: 11. Trying to write into the contract your right to a full explanation
Chapter 210: 12. Remembering that there’s only so much protection the law can give,
Chapter 211: 13. Choosing the right lawyer, if you can afford one, for the contract.
Chapter 212: 1. Is the convenience worth the extra several hundred dollars you’ll be
Chapter 213: 3. How do the windows look alongside each other? Do they =overlap=, just
Chapter 214: 4. How about =data transfer=? If you move information from one
Chapter 215: 5. What kind of graphics—=bit mapped= or =character based=? The bit
Chapter 216: 6. Will the window program work with ordinary software or just products
Chapter 217: 7. Will the windows at least slightly slow down some programs? A word
Chapter 218: 8. Is the program picky about the computers it’ll work with? A window
Chapter 219: 9. Does the program require a mouse—the gadget you roll on your disk to
Chapter 220: 1. Communicate teletype-fashion with the other person. You can keep
Chapter 221: 2. Call up electronic bulletin-board systems (BBSs) or plug into The
Chapter 222: 3. Get copies of other programs that altruistic computer buffs have
Chapter 223: 1. Start out with the other person’s modem set on ORIGINATE and yours on
Chapter 224: 3. Hit your carriage-return key.
Chapter 225: 6. Assuming you’re using a manual modem, flick the switch to “data.”
Chapter 226: 3. Hit your return.
Chapter 227: 1. From MODEM7’s main menu, you select =T= and again hit the return a
Chapter 228: 2. Find out if the other person can read words you type. (Don’t worry if
Chapter 229: 3. Tell him (or her) to set up his computer so that, on paper or on a
Chapter 230: 4. Once the other person is ready—while you’re still in the =T= mode—hit
Chapter 231: 5. Now you type =B:[name of file]=. Here and elsewhere don’t type the
Chapter 232: 6. Next hit your return. The disk should start spinning, and both you
Chapter 233: 2. Again, select your trusty =T= from the main menu. But don’t hit your
Chapter 234: 4. Type =B:[the name of the file you’re creating on the data disk to
Chapter 235: 6. Then hit the letter =Y= with your finger on the control key
Chapter 236: 8. Then, to preserve the file, “writing” to your disk, you must type out
Chapter 237: 2. From MODEM7’s main menu, type =S B:[name of the data disk file you
Chapter 238: 3. Hit the return.
Chapter 239: 3. Hit your return.
Chapter 240: 2. Type the word TYPE, then a space, then the name of the file—preceded
Chapter 241: 3. Then hit your return.
Chapter 242: 4. Hit your return.
Chapter 243: 3. Tap =Control-B=.
Chapter 244: 4. Type the right number (300 for 300 baud, 1200 for 1,200; do not use
Chapter 245: 5. Hit your return.
big-enough discounts to corporations buying the same program for a number of machines.
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