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The Silicon Jungle

Chapter 1: The SILICON JUNGLE
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About This Book

A lively survey of the early personal-computer scene that mixes reporting, company and software profiles, and hands-on advice. The narrative examines hardware and software trends, user anecdotes, emerging security risks, unconventional uses, and the people behind notable products. Chapters cover practical applications such as word processing, graphics, spreadsheets, modems, electronic mail, and networking while offering consumer-oriented guidance on shopping, printers, databases, and hiring consultants. Appendices gather checklists, troubleshooting tips, and buying questions designed to help readers cut through marketing hype and select tools suited to both business and personal needs.

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Title: The Silicon Jungle

Author: David H. Rothman

Release date: March 14, 2017 [eBook #54360]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by KD Weeks, Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SILICON JUNGLE ***

Transcriber’s Note:

Foonotes have been resequenced to be unique within the text. They have been collected at the end of the text, and are linked for ease of reference.

Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation.

The cover image has been created, based on title page information, and is added to the public domain.

“David Rothman’s SILICON JUNGLE is an aphrodisiac for anyone interested in the computer revolution. There is a real sense of self-liberation for the reader, in whose mind the dawn lights up the incredible, awful, wonderful reach of the little computer chip.”

William F. Buckley, Jr.

“Everything you’ve always wanted to know about computers but were afraid to ask for fear of not getting a straight answer in plain English. David Rothman is Indiana Jones, guiding us through the hype, hardware, software, and confusing jargon of THE SILICON JUNGLE.”

Bettina Gregory
ABC News Correspondent
and IBM PCXT owner

“David Rothman’s SILICON JUNGLE is an inspired, fast-paced, often maniacal view of today’s microcomputer scene. While laced with hard facts, Rothman’s anecdotal style makes the book fun reading. The perfect book for the newcomer to the scene and the old-timer lost in the jungle.”

John C. Dvorak
Technology columnist,
The San Francisco Examiner
and InfoWorld

“THE SILICON JUNGLE has proved helpful in both my business and personal use of computers. It is down-to-earth, easy to understand, and has made me and my computers better friends.”

Ellen R. Gordon, President
Tootsie Roll Industries, Inc.

“THE SILICON JUNGLE is an insightful book that provides a foundation for dealing with the complicated world of personal computers.”

Chris Christiansen
Senior Analyst
The Yankee Group

“Of all the books about computers, THE SILICON JUNGLE is the best I’ve seen.... Fun to read and Instructional as well. David Rothman not only blazes a sure path through the jungle, but he has told us almost everything there is to tell about the computer world at this point—and told it very well.”

Jerald F. Terhorst
Ford Motor Executive
DAVID H. ROTHMAN

The
SILICON
JUNGLE

BALLANTINE BOOKS · NEW YORK

Copyright © 1985 David H. Rothman

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the UnitedUnited States by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 85-90645

ISBN 0-345-32063-8

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Edition: July 1985

WITH LOVE
TO
HARRY AND HORTENSE ROTHMAN
Special thanks to Michael Canyes, Mack Truslow,
David Fay Smith, Don Carrol, Robert B. Wyatt, Richard McCoy,
Frank Lavena, Pat Ehresmann, Ruth Aley and Berenice Hoffman

Contents

1 The Silicon Jungle 1
 
2 The Kaypro Phenomenon: How Solana Beach Took on Silicon Valley 14
 
3 After the War 36
 
4 WordStar: The Creators 45
 
5 The Select Word Processor: Martin Dean versus the Command-Driven Restaurants 65
 
6 Three Software Stories: Motorcycles, Homes, and the $200,000-a-Year Disk 73
 
7 Graphics (or How a Mouse Helped Joe Shelton’s Friends Stop Feeling Like Rats) 93
 
8 People: The Who-How Solution 100
 
9 The Hal Syndrome 128
 
10 Jewels that Blip 163
 
11 Wired to Work 200
 
12 How I Found “God” on MCI (and a Few Other Odds and Ends About Electronic Mail) 228
 
13 Net Gain$ 234
 
14 As the Jungle Thickens (AKA the Great Modeming) 249
 
Afterword   271
 
BACKUP More Tips and Tales from the Jungle 279
 
BACKUP I Twenty-Six Questions to Ask at (and About) the Computer Store 281
 
BACKUP II A Few Grouchy Words on Printers 294
 
BACKUP III The Lucky 13: What to Look for in Choosing Software 302
 
BACKUP IV On the Evolution of Software (and a “Perfecter and Perfecter” Program) 310
 
BACKUP V “3-D” versus Mail-Order Software—and How to Shop 319
 
BACKUP VI “Easy” Data Bases: Another View (Mensa Member Versus InfoStar) 323
 
BACKUP VII Graphics Tips 331
 
BACKUP VIII Consultant Contracts: Some Who-How Questions 339
 
BACKUP IX Window Shopping 343
 
BACKUP X Of Mice and Men—and Touch Pads, Touch Screens, Etc. 346
 
BACKUP XI The Micro Connection: Some Critical Explanations 349
 
BACKUP XII MODEM7: An Almost-Free and Fairly Easy Way to Talk to Other Computers 354
 
BACKUP XIII Why Not an Electronic Peace Corps? 366
 
INDEX   375
The
SILICON
JUNGLE