Oral history interviews
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CBI holds one of the world's largest collections of research-grade oral history interviews relating to the history of computers, software, and networking. Most of the 300-plus oral histories have been developed in conjunction with grant-funded research projects on topics such as the development of the software industry, the influence of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the early history of computer science departments.
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Browsing Oral history interviews by Subject "Accounting -- Software."
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Item Oral history interview with Ben Dyer(Charles Babbage Institute, 2004-05-07) Dyer, BenBen Dyer, an industrial engineering graduate from Georgia Tech, describes joining the Computer System Center, one of the earliest computer stores in the United States.. He then switched to providing accounting software for minicomputers which led to Peachtree Software with accounting programs for CP/M computers. IBM identified Peachtree accounting software as a principal product for the IBM PC and provided funding for its development to run under PC/MS DOS. Dyer describes the purchase of Peachtree Software by MSA and its subsequent divestiture. Finally, Dyer discusses his activities post-Peachtree.Item Oral history interview with John Landry(Charles Babbage Institute, 2004-05-07) Landry, JohnJohn Landry’s experience in the computer software industry spans a wide range of computer applications, designed and developed while working for a number of prominent independent software companies. He was the technical leader at McCormack & Dodge in architecting their accounting system and at a later point in designing and building Millenium which was a significant advance in constructing online applications systems. After M&D was acquired by Dun & Bradstreet, Landry and Bob Weiler joined Distribution Management System and developed an expert system which could be incorporated into commercial applications. Landry then sold the company to Cullinet, and he tells how he got Cullinet to invest in building client/server systems. He talks about convincing the Cullinet Board to sell the company to Computer Associates, somewhat over John Cullinane’s objections. Landry then describes going back to work at Dun & Bradstreet and later joining Lotus Development. He was instrumental in supporting Ray Ozzie in building Lotus Notes and in the sale of Lotus to IBM. He concludes by discussing his consulting work for IBM and specifically as an advisor to Lou Gerstner and becoming an investor in a series of new technology companies.Item Oral history interview with Luanne Johnson(Charles Babbage Institute, 2004-05-07) Johnson, LuanneLuanne Johnson, one of the early women entrepreneurs in the computer software industry, describes how she became a programmer and then how she started Argonaut Information Systems, a provider of packaged accounting software products. She discusses how she simplified the structure and programming of the products for easy maintenance and portability and focused on of-the-shelf sales to medium-sized companies. She talks about her many years as an active participant in ADAPSO and then in leading the ADAPSO Foundation and becoming the President of ADAPSO which was renamed as the Information Technology Association of America. She concludes with stories about her consulting career after leaving ADAPSO.Item Oral history with Gary Harpst(Charles Babbage Institute, 2004-05-07) Harpst, GaryGary Harpst describes how he and two of his friends from Ohio started a company called TLB ("The Lord’s Business") to produce accounting software for one client and then produced an accounting package called Solomon for CP/M-based computers and later for IBM PCs and their MS/DOS clones. Harpst discusses the business philosophy and ethics of their business and how the three founders maintained their relationship and developed effective joint decision processes over a period of more than 25 years. He describes the strategy for selling to and through CPAs rather than directly to end users or through retail stores. After going through a major business drought, the company created Solomon IV and the business started to grow again. Finally, the three partners decided to sell the business to Great Plains rather than to rebuild the product for the Internet.