Ben Lockwood (broadly defined)Jun 30, 2025
Having to force people to use the product they don’t want is surely the litmus test for knowing you’ve created something of value
Show threadWulfy—Speaker to the machinesJun 30, 2025

@benlockwood

I remember being around in the 1980s when they were folks around in the offices who didn't "need" to use computers. Their unwillingness to use computers was considered in their performance reviews. It was not an indication of suitability of otherwise of technology.
It was an indication of their inability to embrace the new tech.

You may not remember Lotus 123 or Database IV but I do.
They were laughably primitive time sinks.

Show threadDec [{()}]Jul 1, 2025

@n_dimension @benlockwood
Luxury!

I remember using Migent Ability, an inflexible all-in-one office suite for DOS that was the cheapest one on the shelf in 1987.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ability_Plus

Ability Plus - Wikipedia

Show threadWulfy—Speaker to the machinesJul 1, 2025

@dec23k @benlockwood

... and now Im crying.
#nostalgia

Show threadDec [{()}]

@n_dimension @benlockwood
It was functional, but probably the worst office software I have ever used.
My employer at the time cheaped out on it. We ended up replacing it with a set of standalone shareware packages.

A few years later, in another job, we used Open Acess by SPI (DOS, textmode). It was much better in every way, with a powerful relational DB and LAN support.
It had a custom programming language which allowed me to develop and compile standalone DB applications, and release them.

Jul 1, 2025 at 6:50pmWeb