3.1019 ideal workstation, cont. (105)

Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca)
Wed, 7 Feb 90 21:00:21 EST

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 1019. Wednesday, 7 Feb 1990.


(1) Date: Tue, 06 Feb 90 22:11:10 EDT (48 lines)
From: FLANNAGA@OUACCVMB.BITNET
Subject: The ideal workstation and the quality of life with computers

(2) Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 12:16:36 EST (37 lines)
From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber)
Subject: Re: 3.1004 ideal workstation! (144)

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Feb 90 22:11:10 EDT
From: FLANNAGA@OUACCVMB.BITNET
Subject: The ideal workstation and the quality of life with computers

As soon as I learned in the early Eighties that one did not
have to hit a carriage-return with a word-processor, I was hooked on
computers for the humanities. That and automatically-reformatted
paragraphs and pushing footnotes to the end of the documents--all
those goodies were more than marvellous. Of course that initial
intoxication was matched by having to edit batch files in EDLIN and
other nasty and impossible jobs the computer and its programmers
made me do. The demonstrable increase in productivity was matched
by lower quality of life, which is the modern trade-off all over. The
modern automobile is a marvellous machine, a little island of mechanical
marvels that eases our aching back and plays us easing Bach, but what
does that all mean if we are caught in gridlock?

The ideal workstation is a great tool for productivity and
efficiency in the hands of people who see its potential for releasing
creativity--no matter what their field. One thing that lowers the
quality of life around the use of the computer are the Babelings
over which system looks best. IBM is tainted by its association with
arrogant Big Brother Business, the Mac is an overpriced and
undersupported toy used by illiterate picture people, the NeXT is yet
another toy of Stephen Jobs that is overhyped and untested,
the Amiga is out of the mainstream and incompatible, the Sun is
for engineers who can afford it. Besides, our deans won't let us have
anything more expensive than the lowest of the clones. The marvellous
machines that we so fell in love with are bewitched by software
that never quite works the way it is supposed to, never quite
does what it is hyped to do. And if the software don't get you,
the virus will, so we live in a paranoid and suspicious world
that can't trust the software people to give us something that
really does do what it says it will do and we can't even
trade disks freely for fear of contamination.

Despite the lowered quality of life caused by our loss of
faith in the machine, we academic computer people are now expected
to live a more-efficient, more productive, more businesslike life,
now that we have access to machines. We are expected to take even
more of our work home with us. We are expected to construct wonderful
teaching programs with the computer, instruct students on how to
become as good writers and productive scholars as we are. We can't
see ourselves living without the computers but we are going mad
with having to live with their complexity and the complexity of
life caused by humanity's often evil interaction with computers,
from over-hyped advertising to underdone programming. No wonder
we get discouraged sometimes.
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------48----
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 12:16:36 EST
From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber)
Subject: Re: 3.1004 ideal workstation! (144)

For me, the single most important function of a workstation
(right now) is its multi-tasking abilities. Unless yu've
done it, you cannot believe how convenient it is to open
up a window and log on to an on-line catalogue, search for
a bibliographical reference and (1) paste it into a
bibliography or (2) into a mail window to request the
library delivery service to bring you the item in question.
This is on a Sun 3/50, by the way.

I think that the model we will be looking at our LAN's with
gigabyte (or more) file servers and workstations. That way
you minimize the problems of system administration, backups,
etc., while still maintaining response time and local user
control.

To illustrate the problems with systems that do not support
multi-tasking: I currently have a large data base system on
a PS/2 model 70 running DOS 4.0. In order to keep a set of
notes to myself on problems to be solved, either with the
system itself or with the data, I have to shut down the data
base and open up the word processor, which means (a) that
unless the problem is "important" enough, I don't do it, or
(b) I waste a certain amount of time--and over a long enough
period that time adds up.

Thus I see the humanist workstation, right now, primarily as
a productivity enhancer. As they become more prevalent, however,
they will also allow us to do things which we would never have
considered with lesser systems--like hypertext CAI or critical
editions.

Charles Faulhaber
UC Berkeley
more of our work home with us. We are expected to construct wonderful
teaching programs with the computer, instruct students on how to
become as good writers and productive scholars as we are. We can't
see ourselves living without the computers but we are going mad
with having to live with their complexity and the complexity of
life caused by humanity's often evil interaction with computers,
from over-hyped advertising to underdone programming. No wonder
we get discouraged sometimes.
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------48----
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 12:16:36 EST
From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber)
Subject: Re: 3.1004 ideal workstation! (144)

For me, the single most important function of a workstation
(right now) is its multi-tasking abilities. Unless yu've
done it, you cannot believe how convenient it is to open
up a window and log on to an on-line catalogue, search for
a bibliographical reference and (1) paste it into a
bibliography or (2) into a mail window to request the
library delivery service to bring you the item in question.
This is on a Sun 3/50, by the way.

I think that the model we will be looking at our LAN's with
gigabyte (or more) file servers and workstations. That way
you minimize the problems of system administration, backups,
etc., while still maintaining response time and local user
control.

To illustrate the problems with systems that do not support
multi-tasking: I currently have a large data base system on
a PS/2 model 70 running DOS 4.0. In order to keep a set of
notes to myself on problems to be solved, either with the
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Date: Wed, 07 Feb 90 21:00:21 EST
From: Willard McCarty <MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca>
Subject: 3.1019 ideal workstation, cont. (105)
To: Humanist Discussion Group <Humanist@utoronto>


Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 1019. Wednesday, 7 Feb 1990.


(1) Date: Tue, 06 Feb 90 22:11:10 EDT (48 lines)
From: FLANNAGA@OUACCVMB.BITNET
Subject: The ideal workstation and the quality of life with computers

(2) Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 12:16:36 EST (37 lines)
From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber)
Subject: Re: 3.1004 ideal workstation! (144)

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 06 Feb 90 22:11:10 EDT
From: FLANNAGA@OUACCVMB.BITNET
Subject: The ideal workstation and the quality of life with computers

As soon as I learned in the early Eighties that one did not
have to hit a carriage-return with a word-processor, I was hooked on
computers for the humanities. That and automatically-reformatted
paragraphs and pushing footnotes to the end of the documents--all
those goodies were more than marvellous. Of course that initial
intoxication was matched by having to edit batch files in EDLIN and
other nasty and impossible jobs the computer and its programmers
made me do. The demonstrable increase in productivity was matched
by lower quality of life, which is the modern trade-off all over. The
modern automobile is a marvellous machine, a little island of mechanical
marvels that eases our aching back and plays us easing Bach, but what
does that all mean if we are caught in gridlock?

The ideal workstation is a great tool for productivity and
efficiency in the hands of people who see its potential for releasing
creativity--no matter what their field. One thing that lowers the
quality of life around the use of the computer are the Babelings
over which system looks best. IBM is tainted by its association with
arrogant Big Brother Business, the Mac is an overpriced and
undersupported toy used by illiterate picture people, the NeXT is yet
another toy of Stephen Jobs that is overhyped and untested,
the Amiga is out of the mainstream and incompatible, the Sun is
for engineers who can afford it. Besides, our deans won't let us have
anything more expensive than the lowest of the clones. The marvellous
machines that we so fell in love with are bewitched by software
that never quite works the way it is supposed to, never quite
does what it is hyped to do. And if the software don't get you,
the virus will, so we live in a paranoid and suspicious world
that can't trust the software people to give us something that
really does do what it says it will do and we can't even
trade disks freely for fear of contamination.

Despite the lowered quality of life caused by our loss of
faith in the machine, we academic computer people are now expected
to live a more-efficient, more productive, more businesslike life,
now that we have access to machines. We are expected to take even
more of our work home with us. We are expected to construct wonderful
teaching programs with the computer, instruct students on how to
become as good writers and productive scholars as we are. We can't
see ourselves living without the computers but we are going mad
with having to live with their complexity and the complexity of
life caused by humanity's often evil interaction with computers,
from over-hyped advertising to underdone programming. No wonder
we get discouraged sometimes.
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------48----
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90 12:16:36 EST
From: cbf@faulhaber.Berkeley.EDU (Charles Faulhaber)
Subject: Re: 3.1004 ideal workstation! (144)

For me, the single most important function of a workstation
(right now) is its multi-tasking abilities. Unless yu've
done it, you cannot believe how convenient it is to open
up a window and log on to an on-line catalogue, search for
a bibliographical reference and (1) paste it into a
bibliography or (2) into a mail window to request the
library delivery service to bring you the item in question.
This is on a Sun 3/50, by the way.

I think that the model we will be looking at our LAN's with
gigabyte (or more) file servers and workstations. That way
you minimize the problems of system administration, backups,
etc., while still maintaining response time and local user
control.

To illustrate the problems with systems that do not support
multi-tasking: I currently have a large data base system on
a PS/2 model 70 running DOS 4.0. In order to keep a set of
notes to myself on problems to be solved, either with the
system itself or with the data, I have to shut down the data
base and open up the word processor, which means (a) that
unless the problem is "important" enough, I don't do it, or
(b) I waste a certain amount of time--and over a long enough
period that time adds up.

Thus I see the humanist workstation, right now, primarily as
a productivity enhancer. As they become more prevalent, however,
they will also allow us to do things which we would never have
considered with lesser systems--like hypertext CAI or critical
editions.

Charles Faulhaber
UC Berkeley