ksb@houxs.UUCP (K.BANDES) (10/03/85)
What's needed for a home pc is a USE! Let's get real, folks, who cares what features it has if there's nothing you can do with it to justify the cost. Let's look at the usual ideas: Recipes: mostly cut out of newspapers & magazines anyway and filed as is - why type them over into a computer? People who try this generally give up almost immediately. Record Keeping: of what? Do you really keep records? I keep receipts, bill stubs, copies of tax returns, etc. - nothing I can put on my hard drive. Word Processing: If you're a writer, this is a legitimate use. How much typing do you actually do? Do you dream of being a writer? If so, you are either writing or you aren't, and a computer won't make the difference. Home Banking: this might be good for active investors, but for Joe Average who deposits a paycheck and pays the rent, a pc is worth a lot of stamps and envelopes. Appliance Control: I never understood what this stuff was for anyway, let alone why you need a computer to do it. If you want to turn your lights on and off automatically, there are inexpensive timers. Programming: good for programmers. I'm one, and I just bought a 6300, but I've survived all this time without one. As for non-programmers who think learning BASIC will enhance their career potential, that's nothing but a cruel joke. Some people actually need these things. Some other people, like me, don't but want them anyway. Most people need the money more, and want a VCR more. That's why the computer business is what it is these days, with warehouses full of solutions looking for problems. Ken Bandes (on contract at) AT&T IS ...!ihnp4!houxs!ksb These opinions are probably not those of my client, AT&T.
dmimi@ecsvax.UUCP (Miriam Clifford) (10/07/85)
I have a "home" computer, though I did not buy it originally for home use. I do use it a lot--for: 1. Keeping membership and financial records for several small clubs and organizations to which I belong. 2. Keeping track of good restaurants in various parts of the country, books I want to read, movies, good recordings to buy, etc. 3. Getting small research data sets organized and analyzed for my husband and others. 4. Reading network news and using mail :-). I would not buy a computer for these things, I don't think, but I certainly enjoy using it these ways and find it very worth while. I agree completely that use of a computer for recipes, home appliance control and bank balancing is a waste of time. But we do track some stocks, and keep track, by category, of tax deductable information. Mimi Clifford
g-chapma@gumby.UUCP (10/07/85)
> What's needed for a home pc is a USE! Let's get real, folks, who cares > what features it has if there's nothing you can do with it to justify > the cost. > > [A number of possibilities are enumerated, and their impractibility > pointed out.] > > Ken Bandes How about investing? A computer allows access to timely statistics, and facilitates making appropriate analyses that would involve much time and effort if done manually. Ralph Chapman U Wisc g-chapma @ gumby @ uwvax
lbg@gitpyr.UUCP (Lee B Grey, Programmer Extraordinaire) (10/07/85)
In article <308@houxs.UUCP>, ksb@houxs.UUCP (K.BANDES) writes: > Recipes: mostly cut out of newspapers & magazines anyway and filed > as is - why type them over into a computer? People who try this generally > give up almost immediately. > > Record Keeping: of what? Do you really keep records? I keep receipts, > bill stubs, copies of tax returns, etc. - nothing I can put on my hard > drive. I think that one of the best things that could ever happen (and will happen), is when there is finally a way for your computer to "read" a recipe or receipt or whatever and turn it into a text file. I don't think this is too far fetched for type, but it is probably pretty distant for hand-written stuff. When it does happen, though, it will be the beginning of true usefulness for the "Average Joe."
rb@ccivax.UUCP (rex ballard) (10/10/85)
> What's needed for a home pc is a USE! Let's get real, folks, who cares > what features it has if there's nothing you can do with it to justify > the cost. > > Let's look at the usual ideas: > > Recipes: mostly cut out of newspapers & magazines anyway and filed > as is - why type them over into a computer? People who try this generally > give up almost immediately. So put the newspapers & magazines in the computer and let the user "cut" and file them electronically. Until now, computer graphics were too primitive to be practical as an advertizing medium. Now, advertizers can benefit from electronic publishing as much as the publishers. The publishers could make a better profit too! Advertising can be indexed by subject as well. Now you can not only find a recipe for Kohlrabi, you can find out who has it on sale. > Word Processing: If you're a writer, this is a legitimate use. How > much typing do you actually do? Do you dream of being a writer? If > so, you are either writing or you aren't, and a computer won't make > the difference. Oh but how nice to be able to write a basic letter, then come up with a version for grampa, who is very religious, and another for aunt mary, who is a radical aetheist, without re-typing. > Home Banking: this might be good for active investors, but for Joe > Average who deposits a paycheck and pays the rent, a pc is worth a lot > of stamps and envelopes. No, but Compu-serve's "Electronic Wish-book", is a lot more fun than mail order. And you can post nasty letters on the BBS if some Compu-serve merchant turns out to be a scam! Consumer protection at its best! > Appliance Control: I never understood what this stuff was for anyway, > let alone why you need a computer to do it. If you want to turn your > lights on and off automatically, there are inexpensive timers. A more practical application would be to use the computer to "program" the Timers. This way, you don't have to leave a 120 watt power supply/computer on for 24 hours/day so you can turn off some 60 watt bulbs after an hour. Also useful would be the ability to "monitor" who is watching what. Maybe you could "Itemize" your cable bill. > Programming: good for programmers. I'm one, and I just bought a > 6300, but I've survived all this time without one. As for non-programmers > who think learning BASIC will enhance their career potential, that's > nothing but a cruel joke. Home programming is only one of the "hobbies" for which a computer would be useful. Designing model airplanes, boats, cars... is another. Also, music, art, interior decortating, are various forms of "programming". BASIC should be considered a relic of the past. We need to develop "visual" programming languages that look and act as simply as McDraw. Maybe learning BASIC won't enhance their career potential, but maybe learning Auto Mechanics, or studying History by reading articles from magazines actually published in 1938, or having not only an ENCYLOPEDIA, but all automotive patents ever granted. > Some people actually need these things. No one needs a home computer unless they are self-employed in a computer related service, or tele-work (still not real practical yet), maybe free-lance writers NEED a computer at home, otherwise, you have to create a very strong want, preferably something psychologically addictive. > Some other people, like me, don't but want them anyway. Why do you WANT one? Answer that, and you've created a market! > Most people need the money more, and want a VCR more. Which is why you have to be able to SATISFY a customer with an equivalent entertainment/price ratio! Home computers DO NOT compete with VAXEN, they compete with stereos, VCRs, and Television Sets. They should be in the same stores that sell Componant Stereos and Big Screen TV's. Those salesmen are experts at translating technology into "Entertainment Value". > That's why the computer business is what it is these days, with > warehouses full of solutions looking for problems. Instead, they should be looking at new ways to make computers more INTERESTING than sitting in front of a TV! Imaginitive games are a start. But opening "FORUMS" similar to net.religion, net.politics, or even good ol' net.flame, create a wonderful way of constructively (most of the time) venting general frustration. Reading those articles won't sell the computer, but RESPONDING will!! It has the same attraction as TALK RADIO, but even better! (I'd love to get Don Black, Chuqui, and Todd on a good national bulletin board.) These nets are addictive, you want to see if anyone responds to you, and end up posting something else. Anyone with a FIDO net interested in hooking up with Telenet, and going national for $1/hour? $6/hour is a bit stiff for "Talk Radio", but as the price comes down... > Ken Bandes The problem with the computer business is that it is full of people who eat, drink, sleep, and breathe computer technology, hardware or software. What engineers see as "marketing hype" is exactly the kind of thing a non-technical customer needs to see. We need to make the ads a little less like "perfume" stuff. The user needs to see something he want's to do (Like respond to an article advocating mandatory abortion), that makes him feel "Important", or "Influencial", even "Powerful". Want to sell the Amiga? Put a picture of Madonna, Prince, or some other "Hot Bod" on the screen, then make the "poster person" MOVE. The main difference between a "Personal" computer and a "Business" computer is not MIPS, Megabytes of RAM, or even RESOLUTION. The real difference is the that a "Personal" computer needs good COMMUNICATION capability, while a "Business" computer needs good "READ-WRITE MASS STORAGE" available for frequent and immediate update. CD-ROM's provide the right type of mass storage for "Personal" computers. Most people would be hard pressed to use more than 5Mb for "Personal" use. Even that would mostly be a "Cache Index" to the Communications and CD-ROM applications.
levy@ttrdc.UUCP (Daniel R. Levy) (10/13/85)
In article <301@ccivax.UUCP>, rb@ccivax.UUCP (rex ballard) writes: > >The main difference between a "Personal" computer and a "Business" computer >is not MIPS, Megabytes of RAM, or even RESOLUTION. The real difference >is the that a "Personal" computer needs good COMMUNICATION capability, >while a "Business" computer needs good "READ-WRITE MASS STORAGE" available >for frequent and immediate update. CD-ROM's provide the right type of >mass storage for "Personal" computers. Most people would be hard pressed ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >to use more than 5Mb for "Personal" use. Even that would mostly be a ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >"Cache Index" to the Communications and CD-ROM applications. Oh yeah? Have you ever seen the space used by my archives of ABUSENET articles?? :-) (Yeah, I put 'em on floppies..., I know you mean hard disk/ mass storage.) -- ------------------------------- Disclaimer: The views contained herein are | dan levy | yvel nad | my own and are not at all those of my em- | an engihacker @ | ployer or the administrator of any computer | at&t computer systems division | upon which I may hack. | skokie, illinois | -------------------------------- Path: ..!ihnp4!ttrdc!levy