[WillAdams]

The Personal Computer became an accepted, even required business device when IBM launched their PC in 1981 --- at that point, w/ WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 there was a standard set to which folks for the most part adhered --- going into a Compubiz? (blanking on the name) which sold Big-Blue to businesses was a lot different than going to an Apple reseller at that time, or earlier.

A vivid memory was being in a computer shop when a young accountant pulled up in his Trans Am and declared to the salesperson, "I need a Visicalc" --- once it was explained that this was a program for a computer and that one would be needed, the guy was set up with an order of basically one of everything in the store:

- Apple ][ w/ 80 column card and matching green monitor

- disk controller and dual disk drives

- 132 column printer

and of course a copy of Visicalc and a couple of books on using a PC all of which was then loaded up into his Trans Am and he drove off into the sunset --- always wondered how that worked out....

[HeyLaughingBoy]

Probably worked out pretty well. I get the impression that people tried harder back then: stuff cost more and there was less help available. So, if you even attempted to jump in the deep end, you were committed.

In the late 80's/early 90's I was working for a little electronics manufacturer that also sold Color Computer software. I remember all the phone calls and letters asking for support and there was one lady in particular whose complete address I remembered because she wrote us so often, trying to get her Digitizer working. She was finally successful and pasted a scanned photo of her daughter in a cowboy hat into her final thank-you letter :-)

One of the lessons that stuck with me all these years is that quality of product documentation/ease of use is inversely proportional to the number of support calls I had to take.

[aspenmayer]

> In the late 80's/early 90's I was working for a little electronics manufacturer that also sold Color Computer software. I remember all the phone calls and letters asking for support and there was one lady in particular whose complete address I remembered because she wrote us so often, trying to get her Digitizer working. She was finally successful and pasted a scanned photo of her daughter in a cowboy hat into her final thank-you letter :-)

That was really touching. Thank you for sharing.

“Computers aren’t the thing. They’re the thing that gets us to the thing.”