Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ginosko!uunet!microsoft!philba
From: philba@microsoft.UUCP (Phil Barrett)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Low Productivity of Knowledge Workers
Message-ID: <7886@microsoft.UUCP>
Date: 29 Sep 89 04:33:38 GMT
References: <9676@venera.isi.edu> <189@crucible.UUCP> <291@voa3.UUCP> <7765@microsoft.UUCP> <6313@ficc.uu.net>
Reply-To: philba@microsoft.UUCP (Phil Barrett)
Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA
Lines: 53

In article <6313@ficc.uu.net> peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) writes:
>One of the most powerful things a computer can do for an organisation
>is improve intra- and even inter- office communications enormously. The
>problem is that most offices computerise by getting a bunch of little
>personal computers, and maybe a network (though even this is fairly
>uncommon). So instead of a bunch of people sitting in offices you have
>a bunch of people and computers sitting in offices. Instead of passing
>around papers, you pass around floppy disks.
>
>Even with a network, the individual computers are single-tasking... a user
>has to back out of whatever they're doing to send electronic mail. And users
>have no access to each others' files, either because of network limitations
>(the network will only work in server *or* client mode on a given box), or
>because of administrative ones (no or inadequate security).
>
>An office is inherently a multi-user environment. Grafting the software
>on top of a bunch of single-user systems still leaves every man an island.

Hmmm,  let me see.  Yeah, I'm running on a compaq.  Yup, there's dos down
there somewhere.  Yup, excel, my bug database and mail program are
all still running. Not to mention my vtp to the local news server which
is what I'm using to post this message (at least when I'm not switching
back to make sure the other stuff is running .  The network seems to still
be up -- and so are the servers I'm connected to.   And I could run this
stuff on a lowly 286.

Maybe you haven't looked at what's around lately but there are numerous
email packages commercially available.  DaVinci has one for Windows and
there are numerous DOS versions that can be multitasked under windows, os/2
or desqview.  A lot of fortune 1000 companies do this now. 

PC networking is becomming a very big business and a *lot* more common
than you think, read PC Mag, PC WORLD, etc.  I don't know the actual sales
but they are enough to attract numerous large players.  Microsoft, Novell, IBM,
3Com, UB, TOPS, 10Net (DCA?), etc  all make reasonable products.   

So, quite simply, I can put together a very nice office automation system
with file servers, shared printers, Email and PCs AND still get all the benefits
of all that PC SW out there.  Also, there are lots of DOS based SW products
designed to work nicely on a network.

You are right that the DOS based networks dont support both server and client
on a single machine reasonably.  But so what?  File sharing is quite easy;
I don't remember the last time I passed a diskette around.  Security isn't
super tight but its good enough for many (if not most) installations.  I've
used multiuser systems for years and I really would never want to go back to
one.  The amount of SW available is so incredibly limited compared to PCs.

I certainly dont feel like an island, not with >75 email messages a day.


Phil `the above opinions are mine' barrett
Microsoft