From: utzoo!decvax!pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsovax!kline
Newsgroups: net.micro
Title: Re: Orphaned Response - (nf)
Article-I.D.: uiucdcs.345
Posted: Fri Aug  6 07:31:31 1982
Received: Sun Aug  8 09:14:02 1982

#R:we13:-27600:uicsovax:3700007:37777777600:2130
uicsovax!kline    Jun 23 17:44:00 1982

	The problem is in the software. Hardly any of the software
manufacturers for microcomputers make any attempt whatsoever to target
their software at the "average user." Most of the time, the documentation
is nonexistent, very poor, or aimed at someone who is knowledgeable in
the field of microcomputers. The programs that are available are mostly
games, granted, but there is a wide, untapped market. Home lighting
control and security, for example--with a phone interface, a speech
synthesizer, and a touch-tone decoder, the average person could easily
inquire about and control the status of his house from far away. This
sort of thing is simple--if only a company would take the time to make
the software and hardware as easy to install as, say, a washing machine.

	The problem is that everyone in the computer field thinks of
microcomputers in terms of computers. What can they do? Well, they can
crunch numbers, store vast amounts of data, communicate with a large
network, and can be excellent text processors. Fine. These are the
*ACADEMIC* uses of computers (micros being a subset). The *PERSONAL*
applications of computers are different; the audience is much different.
They don't care what the computer can do, what kind of microprocessor it
has, what kinds of networks it can connect to, or even how many floating-point
multiplies it can perform in a second. They are interested only in a machine
to make life easier and more entertaining for themselves. They want 
to be able to organize business records, keep notes, type out letters,
and so on. And those companies which first come out with programs that
the personal computer user really wants, well DOCUMENTED and EASY TO
USE and MEETING THE NEEDS of the home computer users, will be making a buck.

	There is an application out there for computers. The long worn
statement that computers can make anything easier is true. It's just
that the home applications have gone unnoticed for so long. They are
NOT the same as our ideas of computer applications, and the two sets
of needs will never meet. God help us if they ever do. But the want is
there nevertheless.