Browsing by Subject "Computer software industry -- United States -- History."

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Burroughs B 5000 Conference
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1985-09-06) Waychoff, Richard; Turner, Lloyd; Rosin, Robert F.; Pearson, Ralph W.; Oliphint, G. Clark; MacKenzie, F. Brad; MacDonald, Ray W.; MacDonald, Duncan N.; Lonergan, William D.; Kreuder, Norman L.; King, Paul D.; Hootman, Joseph T.; Hauck, Erwin A.; Hale, John E.; Galler, Bernard A., 1928-; Ford, James; Eppert, Ray R., 1902-; Dent, Benjamin A.; Dahm, David M.; Creech, Bobby A.; Collins, George A.; Berce, Henri; Barton, Robert S.
    The Burroughs 5000 computer series is discussed by individuals responsible for its development and marketing from 1957 through the 1960s in a conference sponsored by AFIPS and Burroughs Corporation. In the first session the technical aspects of the B 5000 and 5500 are discussed by a group of managers, engineers, and consultants. Topics include: the state of the industry in the late 1950s; the 5000's predecessors, particularly the ElectroData 101 and 201, B 205, and B 220; factors influencing the decision to produce the B 5000; reasons for designing the machine for ALGOL rather than FORTRAN and the effect of this decision on the computer's development and sales. The group reviews the MCP operating system, PERM, Polish notation, descriptors, stacks, the BALGOL compiler, and other innovations of the computer. In the second session, the same group discusses the development of the B 5000 into a product, including the effect of the administrative organization on the project; the relations between hardware and software engineers; the interaction of project personnel and upper-level management, field marketing, and customers; the COBOL processor, the head protract disk system; the operating system; ALGOL; and documentation of the computer. In the third session managers, sales personnel, and customers of the B 5000 discuss Burroughs' product line before the 200 and 5000 series computers; sales training and market reaction to the B 5000; acceptance of B 5000s at Ohio Oil Company and Stanford University; its rejection by the University of Michigan; reasons why the B 5000 was not marketed overseas; and Burroughs' presidents Raymond Eppert and Ray MacDonald. Technical session participants included: Robert S. Barton, Bobby A. Creech, David M. Dahm, Benjamin A. Dent, Bernard A. Galler, John E. S. Hale, Erwin A. Hauck, Paul D. King, Norman Kreuder, William Lonergan, Duncan MacDonald, F. Brad MacKenzie, G. Clark Oliphint, Robert F. Rosin, Lloyd Turner, and Richard Waychoff. Marketing session participants included: Henri Berce, George A. Collins, James Ford, Bernard A. Galler, John E. S. Hale, Joseph T. Hootman, Paul D. King, F. Brad MacKenzie, Ralph W. Pearson, and Robert F. Rosin.
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    Oral history interview with Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 2004-05-07) Bricklin, Dan; Frankston, Bob
    Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston discuss the creation of VisiCalc, the pioneering spreadsheet application. Bricklin and Frankston begin by discussing their educational backgrounds and experiences in computing, especially with MIT’s Multics system. Bricklin then worked for DEC on typesetting and word-processing computers and, after a short time with a small start-up company, went to Harvard Business School. After MIT Frankston worked for White Weld and Interactive Data. The interview examines many of the technical, design, and programming choices in creating VisiCalc as well as interactions with Dan Fylstra and several business advisors. Bricklin comments on entries from his dated notebooks about these interactions. The interview reviews the incorporation of Software Arts in 1979, then describes early marketing of VisiCalc and the value of product evangelizing. There is discussion of rising competition from Mitch Kapor’s 1-2-3 and the steps taken by Fylstra’s software publishing company Personal Software (later VisiCorp). Part II of the interview begins with Bricklin and Frankston’s use of a Prime minicomputer to compile VisiCalc’s code for the Apple II computer. There is discussion of connections to Apple Computer and DEC, as well as publicity at the West Coast Computer Faire. The two evaluate the Fylstra essay, reviewing the naming of VisiCalc and discussing the division of labor between software developers and Fylstra as a software publisher. They describe the porting of code for versions of VisiCalc for other computers. Talks concerning a possible merger between Personal Software and Software Arts broke down, and instead there was a lawsuit between the companies. Software Arts developed a new product called TK!Solver and became a Macintosh developer. They evaluate the early spreadsheet products, including Kapor’s 1-2-3, Context MBA, Multiplan, and Excel as well as VisiCalc for the IBM PC. There is discussion of the Xerox PARC Alto and Macintosh. The interview was conducted in two parts, first with Martin Campbell-Kelly and the second with Paul Ceruzzi. There are references to an essay prepared by Dan Fylstra, circulated privately at the 2004 meeting and subsequently posted on the web (see “The Creation and Destruction of VisiCalc” in footnote).
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    Oral history interview with James McCormack
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1984-02-23) McCormack, James
    McCormack, co-founder of the Boston software company McCormack and Dodge, describes his career and the growth of his company. He begins with his work at General Motors in the early 1960s on the automation of a cost accounting system. He explains how he gained knowledge of computer systems while working as an IBM marketing representative, and describes his discussions with Frank Dodge, a systems engineering group leader at IBM, that led to the 1969 founding of McCormack and Dodge. He describes their first product (for fixed assets), their early financial problems, the establishment of a base of customers in the Boston area, and the successes of a mass-market pricing strategy. He then turns to the company's rapid growth over the next decade to over 750 employees and a range of products, including accounts payable, ledger, purchasing, capital project accounting, human resource, and accounts receivable systems. McCormack discusses at length the problems associated with managing a fast-growing company. He remarks on his company's strong reputation, and on the strategy and structure of the competition. He concludes with an appraisal of the acquisition of his company by Dunn and Bradstreet in 1983.
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    Oral history interview with Richard A. Zemlin
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1988-05-16) Zemlin, Richard A.
    Zemlin worked for several computer firms before joining Control Data (CDC) to develop software for the CDC 1604. He discusses the establishment of a software group and the simultaneous development of a service bureau in the San Francisco Bay area. He mentions the software group under Seymour Cray that developed the FORTRAN compiler for the 1604 and the group built up by Richard Gunderson. Software development at CDC was originally under the direction of George Hanson. Later Frank Mullaney oversaw software development before Clair Miller was hired to head software development specifically. Zemlin points out that early software was conceived of as applications. Zemlin considers CDC's attempts to limit their support to system software and compares the policies of CDC with those of International Business Machines. He discusses training a force of outside analysts that was developed to provide support for specific customers and subsequently became part of the marketing organization. Zemlin discusses a number of specific projects, including the development of the ALGOL compiler at Oak Ridge. He also discusses the development of two forms of documentation for CDC software: external specifications, and internal maintenance specifications.
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    Oral History Interview with Scott Gaff
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 2002-07-17) Gaff, Scott
    In this interview Scott Gaff, formerly of Lamb & Company, discusses a wide variety of subjects in computer graphics history. Gaff recounts his education and work experience at the University of Minnesota, and his testing of TERAK, Evans & Sutherland PS-300, and voice recognition CAD/CAM systems. Gaff describes his brief stint in 1984-1985 at the failed Minneapolis company Mainframe Productions—which specialized in graphics for television commercials—and rendering and other technical work on Silicon Graphics (SGI) workstations and PCs running Wavefront software at Minneapolis-based animation firm Lamb & Company between 1986 and 2001.
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    Oral history interview with Walter F. Bauer
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 1983-05-16) Bauer, Walter F.
    The interview covers Bauer's work at Ramo-Wooldridge and the formation and growth of his own software firm, Informatics General Corporation. Bauer joined Ramo-Wooldridge in 1954 and worked on various projects, mostly in software development, in the 1950s and early 1960s. In this context he discusses the proprietary nature of software and the development of the software industry. In 1962 Bauer, Werner Frank, Richard Hill, and Frank Wagner started Informatics General Corporation as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dataproducts. Bauer discusses the corporate structure, business strategies, and products of Informatics General. He also notes changes in the software market from the early 1960s to the early 1980s.