CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Product Definition, Market Potential
Evaluations, Market Potential
Management productivity & Teamwork
Computers not used for management

0706 -    ..
0707 - Summary/Objective
0708 -
070801 - Follow up work at ref SDS 2 line 42, article by Jim Manzi at Lotus.
070802 - Article in San Diego newspaper supports contention that computers do
070803 - not improve productivity unless configured correctly.  Mentions new
070804 - book on this.  Could not find the book in Escondido; will look for it
070805 - when we get back from vacation.
070806 -
070807 -    [Followed up at ref SDS 5 line 58.]
070808 -
070809 -
0709 -
0710 -
0711 - Progress
0712 -
071201 - During breakfast after tennis this morning, Millie saw an article in
071202 - the San Diego Union newsapaper for 950620.  It is on page 4 of a
071203 - special section called "ComputerLink" which is published weekly by the
071204 - Business section of the San Diego Union Tribune.
071205 -
071206 -            Jeffrey J. Rose is the ComputerLink Editor.
071207 -            Laurel Scott is Assistant Editor
071208 -
071209 -    ComputerLink accepts letters to the editor.  They should be brief
071210 -    and may be edited.  To be considered for publication, a letter
071211 -    must be signed and include a daytime telephone number.  It should
071212 -    be addressed to:
071213 -
071214 -                ComputerLink
071215 -                The San Diego Union Tribune
071216 -                P.O. Box 191
071217 -                San Diego, CA  92112 4106
071218 -
071219 -                Internet:  computerlink@sduniontrib.com
071220 -
071221 -
071222 - After ABCs, Difficulty Curve Goes Vertical!
071223 -
071224 - Just this title reflects my position that SDS is a fundamental advance
071225 - to the ABCs, and that this is very hard to accomplish.
071226 -
071227 - The article has a sub-title:
071228 -
071229 -       Why are so many midlevel computer problems so irritatingly
071230 -       tough?
071231 -
071232 - The author:
071233 -
071234 -               L. R. Shannon  internet:  LRshan@cerf.com
071235 -
071236 -     ...writes for the New York Times
071237 -
071238 -          [See follow up to Shannon at ref SDS 7 line 33.]
071239 -
071240 -
071241 - Solutions to Computer Problems
071242 - Can be Implemented Quickly
071243 -
071244 - This piece starts with several problems to illustrate a rather unique
071245 - characteristic of using computers.  Most computer problems are fixed
071246 - very quickly once the solution is obtained unlike the manual world
071247 - where implementation of a solution takes longer than figuring out or
071248 - obtaining the correction.
071249 -
071250 -
071251 -  ..
071252 - New Book
071253 -
071254 - The real purpose of the article is to introduce a new book:
071255 -
071256 -                  The Trouble With Computers:
071257 -                  Usefulness, Usability and Productivity
071258 -
071259 -                  MIT Press; $27.50
071260 -
071261 -       The author is Thomas K. Landauer who is the former director of
071262 -       cognitive science research at Bellcore, the research consortium
071263 -       of the regional Bell companies.
071264 -
071265 -           [Purchased at ref SDS 2 line 83.]
071266 -
071267 -  ..
071268 - Helping People Think is Diffucult
071269 -
071270 - The author of the article in ComputerLink draws from Landauer's book
071271 - that getting computers to help people think is more difficult than
071272 - accomplishing traditional manipulations such as spreadsheet and
071273 - wordprocessing.  This supports the POIMS idea that automation should
071274 - leverage human acuity rather than seek to replace it, consistent with
071275 - Jeromy Campbell's book, ref SDS 1 line 54, and the AI work at Stanford
071276 - on "mediators" which failed, ref SDS 3 line 95.
071277 -
071278 -        [On 950705 called author. ref SDS 5 0001.]
071279 -
071280 -
071281 - Personal Computers have Not Improved Productivity
071282 -
071283 - This supports Jim's Manzi's position a few years ago, ref SDS 2 line
071284 - 44.  Evidently Landauer's book cites actual studies showing that
071285 - putting computers in the workplace has had little or negative effect
071286 - on how much useful work gets done.
071287 -
071288 -      [See discussion with Morris though at ref SDS 6 line 183.]
071289 -
071290 -      [See review of Landauer's book at ref SDS 7 line 372.]
071291 -
071292 -
071293 - IBM's PowerPC
071294 -
071295 - An article on p. 3 indicates IBM's release of its PowerPC is too
071296 - little too late because Intel has now developed superior chips.  This
071297 - new computer uses a new processor developed by IBM so it is not
071298 - dependent upon Intel.  IBM planned to market its new computer as a
071299 - package with os2, but the os2 program was not available in time.  So
071300 - it is really just another competitor for hardware that adds no value
071301 - to existing fare.  This article indicates IBM is a year late in
071302 - brining this product to market.  Initially it will run Windows NT.
071303 -
071304 -
0714 -
0715 -
0716 - 1237 visited book stores
0717 -
071701 - When we went to get hair cuts in Escondido, we visited Crown Books.
071702 - The salesman said the book is available, but they don't have it.
071703 -
071704 - We will pick it up on San Francisco.
071705 -
071706 -
0718 -