OT: Who deserves the credit for the rapid growth in graphical computing?

[Bill Campbell]

On Tue, Jan 24, 2017, Jose Lerebours via Filepro-list wrote:
>On 01/24/2017 03:11 PM, Fairlight via Filepro-list wrote:
>> Probably Xerox, whom Apple ripped off for the MacOS System 'n' (where 'n'
>> is a version number) operating system.
>Which begs the question:  Why is Steve Jobs given the credit I cannot see he
>actually earned!?!
>
>He was the hell of a manipulator for what I can gather but was not a
>"creator" or one with skills to make something.  Do any of the iPhone users
>have a clue as to whom are the developers behind them!?!

What Steve Jobs had was the vision to see things from an overall
design standpoint, not as a programmer.  He aimed at systems that
were designed to be used by people, not programmers/developers.

Programmers tend to write lousy systems unless they have a good
understanding of how those systems are actually used in the real
world.  RealWorld accounting software is/was an excellent example
of horrible software, usable only as a back-office system not for
actual use.  One of my first uses for FilePro was as a front-end
for RealWorld on Tandy Xenix systems as it eased data entry.

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) are great for some things, but
not everything, (e.g. high volume data entry).  I installed my
first mission-critical Linux system in a law firm in September
1999 where it was used largely as a file and print server for
their Windows workstations.  The office manager said their
productivity dropped at least 50% when they were required to use
MS-Word for Windows instead of WordPerfect as Word required
constant use of the mouse requiring the typist to move their hand
off the home keys.  I had similar comments from people who had
used Scripsit, and were required to move to a GUI word processor.

Bill
-- 
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make messes in the house.
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