Most microcomputers don’t emerge from tile-floored laboratories; instead, they come from companies that refine existing technology and carve out niches in the marketplace. But what’s “refine”? High tech is enough of a gamble for the more solid computer makers. Shakier ones can be reckless, and often at customers’ expense. A newspaper perceptively observed, “Computers are hyped before they’re ready, announced before they’re shipped and sometimes outdated and outpriced before they reach retailers’ shelves.”
I’ll try to _help_ you find the machine that’s best for you—not necessarily the one that computer hustlers envision on your desk. Beware:
● In Maryland, a sail maker ended up with a micro useless as anything but an anchor.
● A midwestern company sued a major micro maker for $456,000 because an $8,000 computer allegedly didn’t perform as advertised.
● A construction executive invested over $9,000 in a name-brand computer but could do next to nothing with it, while a colleague was making out fine with a little Zenith micro selling for around half the price.
“I’ve seen too many company presidents march through there hoping to make a final decision in less than an hour,” said a sales manager at a Michigan computer store. “In almost every case he’s ended up paying either too much for the right equipment or too little for the wrong equipment.”[2]
The Michigan quote comes from a magazine article by Washington writer Joel Makower.
Just as important as the hardware—the computers and other machines—are the programs on those plastic disks. In fact, you should even think “software” before you do hardware, because your machine will be useless if it doesn’t do the tasks you want it to. And the programs supply these necessary instructions. More than thirty thousand programs for micros are on the market; so _The Silicon Jungle_ can’t say which one is exactly right for you, but it can help you find out for yourself by showing how a software classic comes into existence.[3]
Chris Christiansen, with the Yankee Group, a Boston-based marketing research firm, offered the estimate on the number of programs.
I talked to Seymour Rubinstein and Rob Barnaby—the subjects of Chapter 4, “WordStar: The Creators”—and learned that Barnaby and I had some common work habits. Maybe that’s why I like WordStar so much. I feel as if the people behind it used ESP to discover how I liked to move words around on my spooky green screen.