[geeks] Microsoft Surface...

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: Charles Shannon Hendrix <shannon at widomaker.com>
>Date: 2007/06/04 Mon PM 09:53:11 CDT
>To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [geeks] Microsoft Surface...

>Lionel Peterson wrote:
<snip>
>> One of the first rules in computing was to pick the software you wanted to run, 
>> then get the machine it runs on - when that phrase rose in prominence it
>> becuase there were so many different platforms to choose from (CP/M,
>> TRS-80, Apple, Commodore, Amiga, and others).
>
>The irony now is that you have less choice.
>
>One thing that really bugs me: I was playing with an Apple IIgs the other day,
>and it struck me that that old platform has more application software than any
>UNIX system does today, except maybe Apple.
>
>UNIX never has picked up a lot of the stuff we used to have on microcomputers.

UNIX was not targeted at single-user/desktop applications, and there were a lot of UNIX applications back in the day, but they weren't shrinkwrapped. UNIX owned the CAD market for years, and as ssuch sold a TON of software and a TON of workstations to run it on, and there were shrinkwrapped applications, I think Lotus 1-2-3 was available, Framemaker was, and others. There used to be books published the size of small phone books that listed applications that were available... And none of that includes the "semi-custom" software industry (like Telco applications, I worked at Bellcore (now Telcordia) and we had a 14 story building filled with folks that built software designed to run on UNIX platforms (HP, IBM, and Sun) - software that sold for millions of dollars and (still) runs our phone network...

Lionel