byard@dca-ems (05/07/83)
From: Larry Byard (WSE-EUR) <byard at dca-ems>
Yes, Lisa is faster if you know how to use it efficiently. I
found that the times to open icons were too slow; but if, for
example, you open the profile (representation of the hard disc
contents), Lisa Write (a darn good word processor), the clock,
and the calculator, you can do things with all four reasonably
fast, by jumping from one open object to other.
We had an experienced user here last Monday for a Lisa demo.
I knew enough about the system then to know that he didn't inten-
tually try to hide things. There were slow moments, but the demo
was very impressive. I also suspect that he was using a faster
version of the software, the latest American version?
Speaking of the calculator (different than the spread sheet), it
is a good example of the imagination that went into the Lisa.
First, one gets at his calculator by opening the tools folder
in the profile and then opening the calculator icon. You can do
this two ways: (1) by clicking the icon which causes it to
reverse video, to signify that it has been designated; going to
the furthest left entry in menu bar, at the top of the screen;
clicking the mouse to select it, which causes that menu to roll
down; holding the mouse button as you move the cursor arrow down
the menu, which causes each entry you pass over to momentarily
reverse video; and releasing the mouse button when the "open
calculator" choice is selected. This can be done very very fast.
(2) Or you can simply double click the icon.
And then, after awhile, following the "old" hourglass routine
(sigh!), up pops a picture of an everday, garden variety, hand-
held calculator--with some surprises.
You can move the calculator to any position on your "desk"
that you want by using the mouse to "hook" a miniture represen-
tation of it in the upper left corner of the calculator.
The keys in the picture of the calculator can be activated
with the mouse or with matching keys in the physical numeric
keypad next to the QWERTY keyboard.
You can produce a window displaying what you would normally
expect from a calculator printer by selecting that display option
from a menu. When this done, the calculator picture expands,
fairly quickly, to about twice its previous size to include a
window to the right, which contains a record of the calculations
performed. The window is dynamically updated as the calculator
is used.
Lisa has a good memory. She remembers icon and open object
positions, which may be, and usually are, different. The calcu-
lator will automatically return to the same position it was last
displayed each time the icon is opened. Furthemore, it is
displayed with or without the "printer," according to the way it
was last used.
Now for a nice touch... Suppose you like Hewlett Packard
calculators with Reverse Polish Notation. Select that option
from a menu and, presto, the picture changes into an RPN calcula-
tor. The = key turns into an ENTER key, etc. And if you want an
adding machine, that option is available also. And Lisa remem-
bers your preference.
I presume that Apple or some other software house will even-
tually take this further and write software for business and
scientific calculators, etc....
In my mind, less some aspects of the responsiveness problem, Lisa
passed the acid test for "user-fiendly" last week.
With all due respect, I would consider the Air Force Colonel
that I work for knowledgable, but still a computer neophyte. Yet
he quickly learned how to use Lisa (and, I think, fell in love)
without a users' manual and without Lisa Teach, and... he was
using the German version of the software! He is typical most of
the "customers" I support: people that need intelligent work sta-
tions as tools for doing their work, not as computers for gurus
to write software on; although some of us supporting people need
to be able to that also.
Larry
P.S. Please spare me. I don't need someone to tell me that
$10,000 is a lot to pay for a desk-top, hand-held calculator.
Lisa does a lot more than that. I remain impressed with the
system.
I do not work for Apple.