
                               The Last Word


     A Computer in Every Pot?              (c) 1995  by Ben M. Schorr


  For years we've been hearing that the personal computer is finding its way
  into every nook and cranny of our lives.  It seems that the prediction is
  finally becoming a reality.  Needless to say, this phenomena has not gone
  unnoticed in the computer industry, as almost everyone involved in the
  business is poised to grab a piece of the home market action.

  Courting the Home Market!

  To increase their already considerable cash flow,  Microsoft is trying to
  introduce to the world  Bob, an operating environment that they seem to
  believe will encourage less experienced users to get onto the computer
  bandwagon and prop them up once they arrive.

  At a vendor event a few weeks ago I was able to get some hands-on time
  with Bob. It was interesting!  Bob is an operating environment for people
  who believe that it is easier to make an animated Rat cross an animated room
  and pick up an animated book, or phone, or whatever... than it is to
  double-click on an icon to launch an application.

  I found Bob to be slow, cumbersome and only mildly amusing.  If I had
  young children at home or perhaps was seriously computer-phobic,  I might
  consider having Bob around.  It seems to me, that anyone who isn't
  actually frightened by their very own trackball,  Bob is just a little too
  simplistic and a lot more trouble than necessary, to get work done.
  However, I can understand using Bob as an introductory tool to help people
  become more comfortable in front of their keyboards and ease them into the
  admittedly confusing world of computers.  Once inexperienced computer
  users feel comfortable about starting their applications  I think it will
  annoy them to have to deal with the cartoon interface, no matter how
  friendly looking it is. I  watched with amusement as fellow computer
  professionals took their turns with Bob, the majority of them tossing the
  mouse aside with disdain after a few minutes of interaction.

  At the same time,  IBM seems to be employing the questionable strategy of
  pitching OS/2 Warp at home users. In a collection of TV ads featuring
  apparent neophytes starting at what we are expected to assume is Warp in
  action.  They never show us the computer screen, so it could just be a
  Beavis & Butthead screensaver as they seem to imply that every home user
  should grab Warp and converge onto the Infobahn.  Considering the
  not-insignificant list of incompatible hardware and that Warp installs don't
  go smoothly 100% of the time, expecting a computer neophyte to install Warp
  on their Price Club computer would seem to be an unreasonable expectation.

  A local Egghead Software retail outlet confirms this suspicion; according
  to one of their staff,  Warp is being purchased in large numbers and is
  also being returned in significant numbers.  The returns are coming  from
  mostly inexperienced users who got flustered with the install and didn't
  know that their sound card or CD-ROM drive wasn't compatible.

  Will Windows 95 be the answer? I doubt it. Windows NT is making strong
  gains in the corporate market place but is not really designed for the
  home user who wants to play Doom and connect to Prodigy from their
  486SX-25 with 4M of RAM.

  So what is the solution? Time and experience is the only answer, in my
  opinion. We are just beginning to see the first generation of adults who
  grew up with Atari and Missile Command. College graduates who've had video
  games and/or PCs in their houses since they were youngsters are easy in
  front of the computer, even if their comfort level only goes as far as
  double-clicking on the picture of the pen to load their word processor.

  The home market is growing exponentially. Nearly every office, big and
  small, is relying more and more on computer technology and as people spend
  more time with computers in school and at work the computer will seem as
  common and comfortable as any other appliance.

  As technology advances and both new and used systems become available at
  extremely low prices,  we get closer and closer to the prediction that
  every home will have a PC.  I think its obvious that none of the new
  operating systems are going to prove to be the magic pill to speed up the
  pace of  both installation and utilization of a computer in every home.



  Ben Schoor is a computer consultant associated with Watson/Schorr
  Consulting of Los Angeles.  He is active on the various nets and is the
  Host for the RIME consultants conference. Ben is a regular contributor to
  WindoWatch. He can be reached on the Internet at ben.schorr@panasia.com or
  ben.schorr@bcsbbs.com





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