david@gorm.ruc.dk (David Stodolsky) (05/23/91)
In Quarterman's (, John. S. [1990]. The matrix: Computer networks and conferencing systems worldwide. Bedford, MA: Digital Press) discussion of conferencing systems history and future (pp. 155-156), groupware is placed under the "Mature, 1990-1995" period: "There also seems to be increasing emphasis on _groupware_ -- i.e., software meant to help group interaction (refs deleted). This is a rather general term and is used to refer to anything from electronic mail to distributed databases that facilitates groups working together (ref deleted). In other words, it includes both CMC and resource sharing. Perhaps this is a sign of eventual better communication between the conferencing and networking communities." In his first substantive chapter, Quarterman (1990, p. 12) presents an overview of the area that categorizes services along a resource sharing versus CMC dimension (the other dimension is batch vs interactive). Thus, according to his analysis, groupware, is a concept uniting the different technologies for supporting group work. It makes sense that the as the area matures, the focus will move from technologies to the services they support, since this is what is important to the users. This analysis suggests that groupware will play an increasingly important role. -- David S. Stodolsky Messages: + 45 46 75 77 11 x 24 41 Department of Computer Science Tel: + 45 31 95 92 82 Bldg. 20.1, Roskilde University Center Internet: david@ruc.dk Post Box 260, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark Fax: + 45 46 75 74 01