Yet Another List of Technologies - Things That Eventually Vanished

[jgrnt1]

Another to add to the list would be 3dfx and their Voodoo video cards.

[jgrnt1]

Another to add to the list would be 3dfx and their Voodoo video cards.

[lsbeller]

On the subject of WordPerfevt and Lotus 123 demise, I always thought in retrospect, the true bane of those products was Microsoft's business decision to sell Word, Excel, and PowerPoint together for the same price as an individual product. So, essentially, why buy just one when you could get all three.

That way, Microsoft was able to attack all markets at once. If someone liked word perfect and lotus 123 or that hp presentation program ala powerPoint (what was it called?), but were willing to use Power Point...why not get all three applications for the price of one and not buy WP or 123?

Microsoft defined the business model (or at least epitomises its use) of giving away something for free to dominate market share.

Steve

[Ed Hansberry]

Originally Posted by lsbeller

On the subject of WordPerfevt and Lotus 123 demise, I always thought in retrospect, the true bane of those products was Microsoft's business decision to sell Word, Excel, and PowerPoint together for the same price as an individual product. So, essentially, why buy just one when you could get all three.

Lotus was selling SmartSuite, whichhad 1-2-3, AmiPro (later renamed Wordpro, and it almost always got better reviews than MS Word), Freelance Graphics (more powerful than powerPoint), Approach (lame database compared to Access) and Organizer (way better than MS's Schedule+ program).

the spreadsheets were the flagship products though. every business I know uses office now and 95% of the people use Excel for something while Access, Word ad PowerPoint may lay dormant on their hard drives. Plus, MS was the first to install all office apps with one installer. Suites used to just be a box with 4-5 apps shoved in it. MS also integrated better with common icons and real OLE. Lotus used DDE for too much.

WordPerfect tried to team with QuattroPro and a few other apps for their suite, but it was a distant "also-ran."

[jlp]

Originally Posted by jimcapraro

Yes before word, there was wordperfect, but before wordperfect there was wordstar, whichi ran on CP/M machines -- no mouse in those days everything was done with keystroke combinations. Old fashioned touch typists loved Wordstar, because you could fly without having to take your fingers off of the keys.

I'm not sure if Wordstar ever ran on MSDOS...

Not only did it run on MS-DOS, but every text editing program HAD to use the very same Ctrl-key combinations, because Wordstar was so familiar.

I remember many computer companies did offer their machines bundeled with WordStar, CalStar, etc. all edited by MicroPro: amongst others, (trans-)portable computer makers Osborn and KayPro.

I had Borland Turbo Pascal (also a de facto standard that vanished) on my very first PC in 1984 and the editor used WordStar's Ctrl-key combinations. Borland's Sidekick's editor also used them too if I remember well.

[jlp]

Just found this long WordStar history here.

[pnjm]

Hey, as somebody who went through 2 Pocket PCs before jumping to Palm OS (Palm TX was my very first Palm) - how do you think I discovered pocketpcthoughts.com? I take strong objection to the remark "5 year old OS held together with spit and wire" - and to the inclusion of Palm OS near the top of the list, since it implies that there is actually something better out there, namely, in this context, offerings from Microsoft.

This 5-year old OS held together with spit and wire beats MS hands down in the reliability department - almost never hangs (and the TX is slammed by some Palm afficionados as unreliable), syncs to 2 computers (I NEVER got Activesync to work with 2 computers as advertised by Microsoft - a case of the hype outpacing the reality - which for Microsoft depressingly fits the profile), gives me a choice of desktop PIM (Outlook or Palm desktop) instead of locking me in to what is frankly an inferior product for my needs, and allows me (via Versamail) to get email directly on my PDA via POP without having to mess with Outlook's "profiles".

Palm OS may indeed be a bit player now, relegated to a comparatively tiny share of the market, but that is testimony to the power of monopoly-induced fear. Group psychology is a powerful thing.

I'm never going back to the Evil Empire's Activesync; and I have faith in the ability of good products to bounce back. Just wait and see. Monopoly power can only get you so far. Microsoft should be the ones looking over their shoulder if they can't get such a basic thing as desktop sync right after FIVE versions of their OS.

PN

[Ed Hansberry]

Originally Posted by pnjm

Hey, as somebody who went through 2 Pocket PCs before jumping to Palm OS (Palm TX was my very first Palm) - how do you think I discovered pocketpcthoughts.com? I take strong objection to the remark "5 year old OS held together with spit and wire" - and to the inclusion of Palm OS near the top of the list, since it implies that there is actually something better out there, namely, in this context, offerings from Microsoft.

Well, the name "FrankenGarnet" - referring to the cobbled together platform PalmOS5 currently is was coined by Palm OS fans/users.

This 5-year old OS held together with spit and wire beats MS hands down in the reliability department - almost never hangs (and the TX is slammed by some Palm afficionados as unreliable), syncs to 2 computers (I NEVER got Activesync to work with 2 computers as advertised by Microsoft - a case of the hype outpacing the reality - which for Microsoft depressingly fits the profile), gives me a choice of desktop PIM (Outlook or Palm desktop) instead of locking me in to what is frankly an inferior product for my needs, and allows me (via Versamail) to get email directly on my PDA via POP without having to mess with Outlook's "profiles".

I really don't understand this comment. I have 4 POP accounts on my Pocket PC above and beyond the Exchange server account I sync with. And on my desktop, I only have one Outlook "profile" - my default. I haven't seen the "Profile" dialog box in years - like, since Outlook 2000.

I only sync with my PC 2-3 times a week to keep my sync'd files up to date. My email accounts are all direct against the various POP servers, and my PIM data is direct against my Exchange server.

That being said, I am glad you are happy with your TX. Different stroke, different folks and clearly PalmOS has something in it that you like. I just hope your dislike of the Pocket PC isn't due to misunderstanding its features regarding how email on the device works, because quite frankly, I've never heard anyone say they like the operation of Versamail better than Inbox on the Windows Mobile platform. Never heard anyone say it was really worse either. Both are competent POP and IMAP clients.

[redraiduzz]

8O

What do you mean Netscape got crushed and faded away? I use it EVERY friggin' day!!

And on top of that, IE STILL has not caught up to Mozilla browsers like Firefox & Netscape!

And if you have to debug Javascript? Forget IE!! It's an afterthought totally! :evil:

WordStar!! Now THAT is something that came and went fast!