Antiquated Software

[Bill Campbell]

On Sat, Jan 14, 2006, ryan at bulldogsoftware.com wrote:
>On Fri, Jan 13, 2006 at 06:29:36PM -0500, Laura Brody said:
>
>> 	Does anyone have any kind of ideas that would
>> help us all out by proving this scientifically?
>
>I've seen obvious results first-hand. Last year the local hardware
>store began testing "new and improved" POS terminals (based on Windows
>no less). I nearly cursed out loud when the cashier reached for a
>mouse. That was not the effect mind you. The effect was the longest
>line I have ever seen in that store.
>
>And there was my former dentist office which used a mouse-based app
>for setting appointments. I am not exaggerating when I say that it
>took a minimum of five minutes for them to find an available
>appointment time. Some time later I changed dentists and the new
>office does not use a mouse-based app. Getting my next appointment
>takes less than 15 seconds.

In September 1997 we installed our first mission-critical Linux system in a
law office where it was used for firewall, e-mail, and as file and print
server for a bunch of Windows machines.  The office manager was a woman I
had know for years, and is one of the best legal typists I've ever known.
She said that her productivity had dropped at least 50% since the law firm
made her use MS Word on Windows instead of WordPerfect for DOS.

One of the things that made Scripsit efficient was that all functions were
done with control keys that didn't require reaching for function keys
(ctrl-i for insert, ctrl-d delete, etc.).

Another woman I know who was one of the original board members of the
Seattle Unix Group now works for the Redmond Raptor as a writer and editor.
Her boss called her in one day to ask what whe did that made her five to
six times more productive than the other people in her group.  Her answer
was that she did all her writing with ``vi'', importing into MS-Word when
it was done.

Bill
--
INTERNET:   bill at Celestial.COM  Bill Campbell; Celestial Software LLC
URL: http://www.celestial.com/  PO Box 820; 6641 E. Mercer Way
FAX:            (206) 232-9186  Mercer Island, WA 98040-0820; (206) 236-1676

Cutting the space budget really restores my faith in humanity.  It
eliminates dreams, goals, and ideals and lets us get straight to the
business of hate, debauchery, and self-annihilation.
		-- Johnny Hart