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1992-08-12
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Design Considerations
for the
COMPETITIVE PC
WORKSTATION ENVIRONMENT
by
Robert J. Dunn
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
AN OVERVIEW
The purpose of this document is to help you formulate a
cohesive, multimedia oriented, PC Workstation development
plan so that you may maximize your PC results in the
electronic marketplace, regardless of your particular field
of endeavor.
If doing your job, whatever it is, requires that you be
in contact with lots of people, customers, clients,
suppliers, vendors, sources, agencies, etc., and you need to
keep track of your affairs with them as well as be able to
communicate with them by phone, letter, FAX, printed
material, desktop presentation, or computer file transfer,
then a broader view of the whole PC Workstation environment
needs to be taken, just to remain competitive today.
This broader view then becomes the basis for enlarging
the scope of your 'communication media' to include
multimedia - the combination of real time video images with
graphics, text, and full digital stereo sound into an
interactive desktop presentation. Having access to
interactive multimedia resources provides an enrichment in
communication and education beyond description. Being able
to also produce a multimedia presentation, using software
tools already available, can provide decisive competitive
advantages.
Every way you look at it, it's safe to say that
business isn't going to be conducted, as usual, in the years
just ahead. The PC is going to play a very central role in
this change, propelled not only by the powerful machines and
software already available, but also by the need to utilize
computer networking in order to reduce or avoid commuting to
work because of it's wasteful impact on time, resources, and
the environment.
Being able to compete effectively, indeed, being able
to 'engage' effectively in the evolving world marketplace
will require a certain level of skill at operating a PC and
applying it's great power to manage your affairs and
communications with the 'outside' world.
-2-
BEING COMPETITIVE and PRODUCTIVE
Being competitive and productive today in business,
commerce, and related personal pursuits requires that you
make substantial use of a PC's ability to:
1. Manage and keep records about all your contacts,
your activities with them, and even being able to dial their
phone for an actual conversation, a FAX transfer, or a data
file transfer.
2. Manage and highly automate your ability to produce
quality hard copy printed materials such as business
letters, proposals, contracts, invoices, etc.
3. Provide instant access to each contacts entire
computer record, from name and address on down to financial
details and previous correspondence. This not only
facilitates your out-going communications of all kinds, but
is also especially useful in handling incoming phone calls.
Within a few seconds of answering the phone, the caller's
records can be up on the PC screen by doing a hot key search
on a few characters of their name. This enriches your
connection with your contact, making it possible to be doing
business in 'the moment', with the full details of past
activity before your eyes, or only a keystroke or two away.
4. Perform network communications with national
information services, BBS's, and other computers operated by
businesses and government for the purpose of conducting
business or information interchange from computer to
computer.
5. Allow you to benefit from the dynamic informational
resource and educational experience of multimedia CD-ROM.
While all this may seem like a lot, if you are already
using a PC for just one or two tasks like word processing or
spreadsheets, don't worry. You're on the right track and
there is plenty of headroom to expand and grow as fast as
you're comfortable with.
Maybe this is a good time to get back to the subject of
a 'certain level of skill' at using a PC mentioned above, in
light of the broad range of ways the PC is being applied in
the electronic marketplace. The elements of this skill
level are:
1. Basic PC Literacy - An understanding of how a
computer is internally organized, how data is represented,
etc.
2. File Management - The ability to organize files
-3-
and directory structures, keep track of the files you
create, provide for their periodic backup, etc.
3. Software Utilization- The utilization of a high
proportion of all the features and functions of your
software resources.
4. Interrelate Applications - Finding ways for
passing text, graphics, and objects from one application to
another, and for having one application drive another, or be
a slave to another, depending upon the results being sought.
Your success at improving your proficiency in each of
these areas will be directly proportional to the amount of
time you spend each day working with your computer. With
PC's, learning is accomplished best by doing. This in turn
will extrapolate into how well you are able to compete for
the attention and response of people, businesses, and
governments as you conduct your affairs in the developing
global electronic marketplace.
It doesn't matter if you're a CEO or an independent
operator, a salesman or a small business owner, to be
successful and competitive in the years just ahead, you must
be as good at using a PC as you are at driving a car or
using a telephone. You can't have someone else do it for
you without drastically watering down the potential results.
Richard Petersen, founder and publisher of ShareWare
Magazine, summed it up this way, "It strikes me that we are
evolving into a world of the computer literate and
illiterate. The computer literate are those that have
learned to use computers to greatly increase their personal
productivity, and the productivity of the businesses they
work for. Those that are not computer literate are left
with low paid service jobs.".
METHODOLOGY
It's a fact of life that effectively applying a PC in
the electronic marketplace can be a complex endeavor. But,
just because it's complex doesn't mean that it can't be
simplified and structured into easy to grasp concepts and
relationships. By using the powerful interactive media of
hypertext, along with a carefully structured array of "hot
links" within the text itself, the process of really gaining
a deep understanding of the concepts can be greatly
expedited.
Educators have long known that the most rapid learning
is associated with the students ability to venture into the
subject matter along the lines of thought that are most
interesting or which seem to be providing a series of
-4-
'answers' to the student's inquiry into the subject. The
ability to probe deeper and deeper into one area and then to
be able to instantly switch to a completely different
section of the subject matter for related information makes
learning progress at a blinding speed.
The result, of course, is that the subject matter which
at first seemed almost intimidating suddenly becomes simple
and intuitively obvious!
The measure of success for a hypertext presentation
rests in just how quickly you can reach the point where
continued perusal of the information becomes boring! At
that point, all of the once seemingly complex information
will be "yours", and your whole Personal Computer outlook
will be enriched and suddenly operating from a new vantage
point. The potential dividends then become enormous, as you
re-evaluate your PC position relative to the new
information, and formulate a clearer path for yourself to
migrate from where your PC situation is today to where you
want it to be in say, a year or so.
The hypertext presentation for the Competitive PC
Workstation Environment provides three major ways of
approaching the presentation material itself:
1. Table of Contents - Select a chapter or section, go
to it, and begin following your own thread of interest using
the "hot links" imbedded in the text.
2. MasterLinks - Select a subject from a list of
carefully chosen "key words", and jump to the text where the
key word is used.
5. Traditional - Start at the beginning and read the
text straight through like a conventional book.
Once you have entered the presentation materials by any
of the above methods, you can proceed along a given train of
thought while taking 'side trips' into other portions of the
materials at will, and then easily return to your original
track by setting 'bookmarks'.
After several sessions with the seminar materials, and
after using a variety of the methods of entering and
stepping through the text, your intuitive powers will really
begin to 'kick in' and you'll find yourself quickly scooping
up any last points of clarity or understanding needed to
completely grasp all that is presented. Most importantly,
at this point you'll be able to visualize a clear path for
yourself to improve your PC's ability to allow you to freely
and fluidly interact with the electronic marketplace.
-5-
THE COMPETITIVE PC WORKSTATION ENVIRONMENT
The word, "workstation", has traditionally implied a
fairly powerful desktop or mini computer, or mainframe
terminal, generally used by engineers, capable of high
resolution color graphics, etc. Like most everything else,
the PC or Personal Computer has changed all this.
Because of the tremendous growth in the power of PC's
over the past decade, and an equally significant advancement
in software, an ordinary, garden variety PC can be very
effectively used to competitively engage in the electronic
marketplace. Today, to be able to apply this technology to
your endeavors gives you a tremendous competitive edge. By
the end of the decade, it may well be just another requisite
for business survival.
In this setting, a PC is indeed a "workstation". It
becomes a vital link between you and your contact with the
world at large. Now, with multimedia, PC's are able to
display real time video images in a window in addition to
text and animated graphics, and accompany it all with full
digital stereo sound, and all in CD quality! Thus, a
Competitive PC Workstation provides all the static text and
graphical representations of information associated with
PC's plus the real time display of moving video and
accompanying full-digital stereo sound!
The key element in all that is presented here is that
the overall environment of the PC is, itself, an entity or
object which when seen as a whole, has a great impact on the
quantity and quality of overall results obtained.
From the broadest of possible views, a PC Workstation
is a "transducer" for transforming your thinking,
creativity, desires and intentions into physical reality.
Your level of success is be determined by your efficiency at
being able to produce the greatest amount of result with the
least amount of effort (time).
In today's developing global economy and international
competition for the limited world supplies of goods and
services, higher levels of productivity will be required to
acquire them regardless of where you happen to live on the
planet. Considering the rapidly expanding world population
concurrent with this, there will also be more competitors to
reckon with than ever before.
Conceptually speaking, this PC Workstation "transducer"
actually involves five thresholds or windows through which
your will and thoughts must pass through on their journey to
being manifest in physical reality. These windows between
you and your intended results are the five primary
attributes of the Competitive PC Workstation environment.
-6-
They are:
The Physical Environment
The Machine Environment
The Operating Environment
The User Interface Method
The Application Software
Like successive hoops to jump through, your overall
effectiveness as a Workstation user is regulated by your
ability to pass through ALL these attribute windows as
transparently and fluidly as possible. If one or more
attributes are misaligned compared to the rest, or provide
only narrow passage ways, then the efficiency of the entire
Workstation tends to be adjusted down to the performance
level of the poorest attribute.
As steps are taken to optimize each of these
attributes, the overall results produced by the PC
Workstation will steadily grow.
The Primary Workstation Attributes
1. The Physical Environment
The physical environment includes the desk, chair,
pencil, paper, books, and other physical characteristics of
the surroundings in which a PC is put to use as a tool
between you and the results you expect. Also included in
this category is the availability and adequacy of electric
power outlets and telephone connections.
Of the five primary Workstation attributes, the
physical environment probably receives the least attention.
Although everything outside the PC's cabinet falls into this
category, it's mundane nature causes people to either ignore
or gloss over it. This is very unfortunate, because this
easy to provide for attribute can have a very dramatic
impact on the quality and quantity of the results you obtain
from your PC Workstation.
The Desk and Chair - First and foremost, you will want
to be physically comfortable as you sit in front of your
keyboard and screen. Anything less than 'very satisfactory'
in this regard will seriously detract from your overall
results. This means that the keyboard needs to be at a good
height and location for you, the monitor needs to be
positioned so it comfortable for you to look at it, and any
other resources need to be easily accessible such as space
for making notes, opening a book, etc.
Optimally, your operating position will offer equally
easy access to:
-7-
a) the keyboard and monitor,
b) the diskette and CD-ROM drive slot(s) in the PC,
c) some clear desktop space,
d) some bookshelf space,
e) the printer and the various different papers
used in it,
f) the telephone instrument and a desk lamp,
g) some traditional letter size filing space, and
h) some wall space for posting frequently
referenced information such as font samples,
telephone service area codes, time zones, etc.
It does take some careful planning to arrange all these
factors so that they are very close at hand, but it can be
done. The resulting operational efficiency is well worth
the time and effort it will take to optimize these factors
for yourself.
The routine elements which make up the physical
characteristics, when taken together, begin to form the
workstations physical environment space or cubicle, which in
turn is structured so as to maximize the overall results to
be obtained from the computer itself. Everything you can
possibly need for your next keystroke or mouse click can be
placed within an arm's length of reach from where you sit
facing your screen.
As these routine but highly related physical
environmental attributes begin to define a finite area of
floor space, it is well to begin thinking about the ways to
protect the Workstation space itself from occasional and
innocent intrusion by other people in the general area.
Intrusions lead to interruptions which lead to errors which
lead to reductions in the results to be obtained and it's as
simple as that. Make the space and facilities that are
dedicated to the Workstation rigorously enforced. Conflicts
will inevitably arise from trying to use or occupy the same
space or resources for non-workstation tasks.
1. Keyboard and Monitor
The keyboard, monitor, and mouse are the only direct
physical connections between YOU and all the resources of
your computer. Make these vital physical reality
connections as ergonomically comfortable for you as
possible. Locate the keyboard at a position and height that
you regard as perfect even if it involves some expense and
effort to do so. Dedicate an ample amount of equally
desirable desk-top real estate for the operation of a mouse
or track-ball. Position the monitor so that it is as
comfortable as possible for you to look at it. Eliminate
any sources of glare.
The keyboard, screen, mouse, and your physical body are
-8-
the only linkages to be transcended between you and the
computer as a tool for your mind. These linkages should be
as transparent to the overall process as possible. You
don't want to be continually interrupted with mental
messages such as, I'm uncomfortable, or there's a bad glare,
or it's uncomfortable typing like this, or I can't move the
mouse far enough this way. Interruptions at this level, of
course, degrade your PC Workstation operations immediately
and eventually lead to a premature halt just as surely as if
the power went off.
2. Disk Drive Slots - Generally speaking, you'll want to
make it as convenient as possible to insert a diskette or
CD-ROM into an appropriate drive slot. Disk and CD-ROM
based media and publications are on the rise, and you'll
want to be able to introduce them into your system with
ease. Since the drive slots are in the PC computer cabinet
itself (which is usually located adjacent to the monitor
anyway), easy access to them is generally not a problem.
Don't be tempted, however, to compromise the location of the
cabinet containing the drives because of the lack of
adequate desk space.
3. Desk-Top Space - Provide enough desk space adjacent to
the keyboard and screen for you to open a book, review
printed results, and have access to the usual collection of
pencils, paper, stapler, paper clips, and related desk-top
items. This can be seen as sort of a general purpose space
- where you prepare materials for entry into the computer as
well as manage the printed output materials that result from
using the Workstation.
4. Bookshelf Space - Of the various physical environment
attributes, perhaps the skillful use of the available
bookshelf space is the next most important aspect after
simply being comfortable at your keyboard and screen.
Ever since the earliest days of computing, it's been a
well known fact that it's impossible to learn and memorize
all the information you may need to know in the course of
using a computer. The important thing is to be able to
expeditiously look up what you need to know in a manual or
book when the occasion to do so arises.
Thus, the bookshelf space for the Workstation, and
especially the portion within an arm's reach from your
operating position, should be judiciously used to put four
categories of vital reference materials at your fingertips:
1. Books - Reference manuals for all your actively
used software and hardware.
2. Notebooks - Three ring notebooks containing
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reference manuals or other descriptive
information for your software that you have
printed out on your own printer.
3. Magazines - Recent issues of magazines and
trade journals that are relevant for you.
4. Diskette Library - All of your diskettes,
including CD-ROM's, organized and filed so that
you may easily retrieve any single disk.
Depending upon your level of involvement, you may have
great physical quantities of all four of these informational
resources as well as others that are relevant to your
purposes. If this is true, some care will be required to
determine which portions of your total available information
resource to put on the 'within arm's reach' portion of the
bookshelf space. In terms of your productivity and
efficiency at using a PC Workstation, this quick-access
bookshelf space is incredibly valuable desk-top 'real-
estate'.
5. Printer - Ideally, you should be able to simply swivel in
your chair and be facing the printer, with the most recently
printed lines clearly visible, and the control panel buttons
should be within arm's reach. These are the attributes of
your 'in real time' connection with the printer and what it
is doing at the present moment, and are usually associated
with the first few moments following the issuance of a print
command.
Once printing has started, a lot of automatic paper
feeding and stacking starts taking place, and if you have
print spooling capability, you can return to doing other
things on the computer. Printing is very reliably self-
managing provided the proper printer accessories have been
provided for as well as the somewhat demanding space
requirements for them. Do whatever is necessary to make
unattended printing a very reliable function of your
Workstation. Printing and paper handling problems can be
not only very frustrating, but very time consuming as well,
easily wasting the extra time you may have been counting on
during a particular session at the Workstation.
6. Phone and Lamp - The telephone for the Workstation should
be within easy reach from your position at the keyboard and
screen. The desk lamp should be easily adjustable to not
only provide good lighting for the desk-top but to also
eliminate the glare which results from some forms of printed
materials and magazines.
7. Letter File - Conventional letter size filing space is
needed to accommodate the collections of letters, documents,
statements, receipts, and other paper items that are
-10-
invariably associated with establishing and operating a PC
in an environment as described here.
8. Wall Space - Even a small amount of blank wall space for
posting frequently referenced information can make a
valuable contribution to the Workstation facilities. This
can be anything from sample fonts and sizes to time zone
information.
2. The Machine Environment
The machine environment refers to what your operating
platform is. The operating platform is determined by the
CPU chip of the personal computer you are using, the number
of bits your computer's CPU can handle at once, how fast
your computer's clock is running, etc. Fortunately, this
very technical view of the workings of a computer can be
easily simplified into a few progressively more powerful
operating platform steps. For the IBM PC and compatibles,
the range of operating platforms includes the familiar
PC/XT, PC/AT or 80286, various models of the PS/2, 80386,
and 80486.
During the 12 years or so that the IBM PC has existed
as a desktop personal computer, it has undergone tremendous
change in terms of it's computing power. The original IBM
PC operated at a tiny fraction of the speed of today's
machines, and had very limited memory and disk capacity by
comparison.
The original IBM PC was followed next by the PC/XT and
then by the PC/AT. The PC/AT utilized the Intel 80286 CPU
chip which, with it's faster clock speeds and wider data
path, provided a big boost in overall productivity. Many
manufacturers began to clone the functionality of the IBM
PC/XT and PC/AT, and the "industry standard" PC was born.
Continuing improvements in the CPU chip brought the 80386
and the 80486 based machines into being, along with even
higher clock speeds, extending the range of PC's to where
they are today.
Although this evolving nature of the PC is generally
seen as simply faster and faster machines with larger and
larger memories, the 80286 CPU chip - the basis of the IBM
PC/AT - ushered in a new facility that was to substantially
change the nature of PC computing. That facility was
"multitasking", the ability to have more than one program
active at a time. Thus, programs such as Microsoft's,
"Windows" began to be developed to take advantage of this
powerful new PC capability.
As multimedia has developed into a practical reality,
the Multimedia PC Marketing Council, which strives for a
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coordinated and compatible development of multimedia on
PC's, has recently redefined the minimum machine environment
for Microsoft Windows based multimedia as an Intel 80386SX
CPU chip running at 10 Mhz. Prior to this change, the
Council had defined the minimum requirements for a
multimedia machine environment as an Intel 80286 running at
10 Mhz.
A framework thus emerges for establishing some
reference points on the continuum of speed and power of
possible machine environments. These primary reference
points establish the minimum recommended environment
according to your expected computing results.
1. IBM PC, PC/XT and compatibles - These are
comparatively slow machines by today's standards. While
these machines can be used for networking and engaging in
the electronic marketplace, the total results obtained per
unit of time may be less than satisfactory.
2. IBM PC/AT and compatibles (80286 based machines) -
This machine is very effective for engaging in the
electronic marketplace and is capable of producing an array
of satisfactory multimedia results.
3. 80386SX and up - Optimum environment for engaging in
the electronic marketplace and multimedia.
The important thing is that regardless of which of
these 3 groups the PC you are using today falls into, you do
have the facility for engaging in the electronic marketplace
to at least some degree. Group 1 will yield less than
satisfactory results, Group 2 will yield satisfactory
results, and Group 3 will yield more than satisfactory
results, given today's level of technology.
As a constraint, the machine environment attribute can
be mitigated somewhat by careful selection of the software
used for the remaining three primary attributes: operating
environment, user interface, and application software.
Notwithstanding this, the machine environment
constraint is probably the single most important variable
for determining the overall flow of results. Fortunately,
the competitiveness in the marketplace for hardware - the
machine environment - is such that a machine capable of
yielding satisfactory results (Group 2 or Group 3 machine)
is readily affordable.
3. THE OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
The Operating Environment refers to what operating
-12-
system is being used to perform the basic level of control
for your personal computer. For PC's, this has
traditionally been the Disk Operating System or DOS,
although other options have existed such as IBM's OS/2.
The first level of intellectual encounter with a PC is
concerned with the operating system. The operating system
is the basic or most primitive link between you and what you
want your computer to do for you. DOS can be seen as a
'supervisor' program which not only provides for a lot of
housekeeping chores such as copying files or formatting
disks, but also provides the means for launching and using
application software.
DOS takes care of getting the PC started up when power
is first turned on, and regardless of the additional
programs that may be subsequently started or stopped, DOS
remains as the program of last resort. When no other
programs are active in a PC, control reverts back to DOS and
the familiar "C:>" prompt where DOS awaits the user's next
command.
Three vendors offer DOS software: IBM (PC-DOS),
Microsoft (MS-DOS), and Digital Research (DR-DOS). While
all three of these DOS operating systems respond to
essentially the same standard set of DOS commands, the speed
with which they carry out the commands, regardless of what
machine environment is involved, differs. In addition, the
ease with which a user is able to interact with the
operating system via a 'shell' differs among the various
vendors of DOS software.
Many user's believe, myself included, that DR-DOS
offers a greatly superior performance compared to either the
IBM or Microsoft versions of DOS. This is especially true
with regard to the time required for, and convenience of,
task switching, where a clipboard can even be used for
transferring screen loads of data from one task to another.
In addition, DR-DOS is also bundled with SuperStor which
will double the capacity of a hard disk, and Super PC-Kwik
which establishes a disk cache to speed up disk reads and
writes. The superior handling of task switching would alone
justify DR-DOS, and the doubling of the hard disk capacity
is just a little extra dividend.
For Group 3 machines (80386SX, 25 Mhz. or better),
another operating system alternative exists in IBM's OS/2
Release 2.0. The 386-specific design of OS/2 makes it the
most advanced PC operating system on the market. OS/2
version 2.0 can multitask DOS and Windows applications in
dozens of windows and takes full advantage of the 32-bit
architecture of 386 and 486 processors to run applications
faster, give them access to more memory, and reduce system
crashes.
-13-
In the computer business traditionally, there has been
a tendency to stick with the tried and the true, especially
where either the computer hardware or operating systems were
concerned. As for the hardware, this meant "IBM" hardware
up until the mid-1980's or so when many manufacturers began
to offer reliable and cost effective PC compatibles.
A similar attachment to Microsoft's version of the Disk
Operating System, because of it's deep roots in the
development of it, will keep some user's from venturing into
the newer alternatives offered by DR-DOS and IBM-OS/2. In
doing so, however, one must clearly evaluate the resultant
loss of opportunity for potential results being given up in
favor of the security benefits realized by sticking with the
tried and true.
As a variable, the operating environment is like having
a choice of performance levels and primary interfaces within
the PC itself, which can be changed without necessarily
changing the hardware or the application software. The
impact on the results you are able to obtain from your PC by
the choice of an operating environment is dramatic.
At one end of the range of possible results would be
the ability to instantly switch between two or more active
applications, cut and paste information between them,
fluidly cruise from application to application with a few
mouse clicks, and with the operating system being virtually
'transparent'. At the other end of the range, a user would
only expect one application to be running at a time, and
would evoke each of them by typing commands at the DOS
command prompt.
4. USER INTERFACE
While all operating systems offer a basic shell or user
environment intended to facilitate the launching of programs
and management of files, most PC users have also implemented
some form of menu system or primary navigational interface
between themselves and the operating system within the PC
itself.
These user interfaces are either character oriented,
meaning the monitor is displaying ASCII text information
only in a fixed character space format, or they are graphics
oriented. Since graphical interfaces are comparatively new
to computing and their wide spread use is only now evolving,
most users today still have a character oriented method of
choosing programs to be run from a menu list displayed in
text mode, or they are executing programs by typing at the
DOS command line.
If all a PC is used for is to write an occasional
-14-
letter or put some numbers in a spreadsheet, then a
character oriented user interface may be entirely adequate.
However as attempts are made to make a character oriented
user interface serve in the stepped up electronic
marketplace environment, much less a multimedia environment,
it will become an obstacle.
Graphical User Interfaces (GUI's) offer the distinct
advantage of being able to not only put far more text on the
screen at one time, in a variety of fonts, but to also
include graphical images, bars, buttons, and icons, all of
which can be responsive to a mouse. One of the most
powerful features of a GUI is the speed with which a
succession of things can be accomplished with just a few
mouse clicks. One of the most powerful side effects of a
GUI and a mouse is the tremendous increase in the intuitive
ease with which new software can be learned and mastered.
There are many software and shareware products
available to create text mode menus for launching programs
and performing other PC tasks. Of these, perhaps the user
interface provided by DesqView (Quarterdeck Office Systems)
provides the ultimate degree of control of the PC, via DOS,
and including a high degree of control over task switching.
Microsoft's, "Windows", is probably the most widely
used GUI for a PC. A distinct disadvantage of relying on
Windows for the benefits of having a GUI is that the
application software must be a Windows 'version' in order to
run under Windows. Otherwise, to run a non-Windows DOS
application, Windows must be exited.
Another approach to gaining the benefits of operating
with a GUI without using Windows is to use GeoWorks Pro, a
graphical user interface bundled with an array of desktop
applications such as a file manager, a word processor,
communications handler, telephone index and dialer, personal
planner, notepad, a drawing tool, scrapbook of clip-art, and
more.
All these graphical applications are, of course, under
the control of GeoWorks. They can be minimized, maximized,
and iconized and otherwise fluidly used by pointing and
clicking with a mouse. Icons may also be set up so that
your regular DOS applications may be run as well. Like
Windows, GeoWorks shuts down it's graphical user interface
when switching to an ordinary DOS application which may or
may not use a graphical screen representation.
Interestingly, when it comes to multitasking, GeoWorks
Pro and DR DOS's TaskMAX mesh with each other very
seamlessly. When the active task is GeoWorks, the Express
pull down menu lists all other tasks that have been started,
both GeoWorks tasks and DOS tasks, and any of them can be
-15-
immediately made the active task by just clicking on their
name. When the active task is a DOS program, a hot key
combination is used to pop open the TaskMAX control menu
where a different task may be chosen, tasks may be stopped
and started, and screen text may be copied to a clipboard
for pasting into a different task.
The advantages of using a Graphical User Interface
along with a mouse as a pointing device as the principal
means for operating your PC cannot be emphasized enough.
The speed with which you can go from function to function,
task to task, etc. not only gives you a new level of control
over your PC, but also makes it inviting to 'go exploring'.
The ease with which various features and functions can be
experimented with greatly expedites the learning process.
Since the Multimedia user interface is itself,
graphical, and has massive data accessibility, the ability
to 'go exploring' is the main point of this interactive
software.
5. THE APPLICATION SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENT
The choice of your application software itself is a
factor in how easily you can obtain results from your PC.
"Standardized" methods for accessing menus and making
choices have evolved greatly as application software has
been steadily improved over the years. The result is that
there are many very good packages available today that are
both incredibly powerful and easy to learn to use because of
their intuitive design features.
Having the right application software and having it
active is where the tire hits the road and some useful work
finally gets done. Assuming an appropriate Physical
Environment, Machine Environment, Operating Environment, and
User Interface let you access the application software with
ease, you are then ready to exploit the functionality of the
application software itself to it's max.
Most quality software today has a wide range of
functionality and a wise user takes the time to become
familiar with all the functional options. It becomes more
probable that a wider range of functionality will be used if
less time is devoted to overcoming and obstacles presented
by the Physical, Machine, Operating, and User Interface
environments each time the software is loaded up. The
importance of having these interface thresholds between you
and your application software as clear and transparent as
possible, and not encumbering access to the application
program itself, cannot be overemphasized.
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Don't get into the trap of falling in love with one
particular word processor, spreadsheet, database, etc. only
because it is the one you are familiar with and can get
around best in, and then ignore all other prospects of
alternative software. If you do feel strongly about
sticking tight with a particular software package, then by
all means keep yourself updated with the most current
release or version of it. Then, in addition, it is wise to
have and be familiar with alternative software packages for
accomplishing the same general results. This is important
for those instances when your favorite package turns out to
be cumbersome with some seldom needed capability and which
an alternative package does well.
SUMMARY OF THE PRIMARY ATTRIBUTES.
Given that your objective is obtaining computing
results from your software, and that there are only 24 hours
in every day, all time spent negotiating and passing through
the Workstation environment attributes leading up to the
application software is pure overhead.
If the physical environment produces obstacles because
of poor organization and inadequate space, if the machine
environment causes you to wait unnecessarily for screen
changes or other results, if the operating environment
offers constraints or is less responsive to your wishes than
it may be, or the user interface is an obstacle to be
overcome, by the time you get down to executing your
application software, a lot of time has been lost just
getting up to the point where you are going to do useful
work with the software.
On the other hand, the five Workstation attributes can
be adjusted to an optimal state considering the overall
objectives and expected results from your PC, and the
resultant increase in the production of results will be very
evident.
The Competitive PC Workstation must be viewed as a
whole, with the five major attributes being parts of that
whole. When each of these parts has been adjusted so as to
make the maximum contribution to the whole, then the results
from the Workstation will be maximized.
THE ANTICIPATED WORKSTATION RESULTS
Continual refinement of the Workstation attributes will
result in ever higher performance levels of the expected
results from this strategy:
1 - ORIGINAL DATA ENTRY - Type (or import) notes,
letters, ideas, documents, names and address, etc. only once
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and establish a permanent record in your computer. This
information may then be used repeatedly in all further
processing of the same information. Type in numbers only
once and establish a permanent and continuing record of
money matters through time that can be displayed or graphed
at will as well as be combined with other text and image
files. Type in information about groups of related things
like customers or disk libraries only once and establish
databases of information that can be scanned with precision
search tools. All these records should be in standard file
formats that your computer, as well as other computers, can
understand and process.
At first glance, the idea of typing or importing
information only once and then using it repeatedly across
multiple applications may seem to be either impractical or
impossible, given the software you are now using. If this
is true, it is a clear indication that you need to begin
investigating the rich array of alternative software choices
available today, and especially the software for
establishing the User Interface.
Both Microsoft's Windows and GeoWorks' GeoWorks Pro
allow for information to be copied and pasted from one
application to another, such as name and address data from a
contact management database to the word processor, so you
can write a letter or print an envelope for the letter
without having to re-key the detailed name and address
information. The copy/paste facility goes much further, of
course, by allowing numerical details, graphic images, and
entire segments of text to be lifted from one place and then
pasted in at another.
The ability to export files containing information
created by one application and then to import the
information in these files into another application is, of
course, a common way of making multiple use of the same
information. Today, text files, database files, spreadsheet
files, etc. can be easily passed from one application to
another.
2 - CONTROL OVER HARD COPY - Visual impressions are
extremely important, and control whether anybody bothers to
read what you've printed out on paper or not, and sets the
priority for their attention if they do decide to read it.
Thus, the Workstation must be able to assemble text,
numbers, and graphics and then print them on paper, using
suitable fonts, so as to attract the intended reader's
attention.
As the electronic marketplace develops, there is a
decreasing reliance on printed materials and an increasing
reliance on communicating the same information
electronically. The reason for this, of course, is that
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every aspect of communicating information on paper is
expensive. The paper itself is expensive as is the time
needed to print it out. Next, physically transporting the
paper to the intended reader is expensive and time consuming
regardless of how fast and efficient the courier is.
Finally, when the printed paper reaches it's destination, it
is expensive for the recipient to use if the information or
a portion of it must be keyed into a computer.
There will always be instances when information must be
physically presented as printing on paper. Letters,
contracts, proposals, etc. are a few of the most obvious
examples. Common among these examples is the probability
that a lot is at stake concerning the information being
communicated. Hence, every effort must be made to make the
information printed on paper as inviting as possible to the
prospective reader. If the printed materials aren't
inviting or otherwise appear mundane, the person receiving
the printed information is simply less likely to read it and
digest it fully. When this happens, the unusual cost of
having prepared the information on paper in the first place
is partially wasted.
Given the capability of today's PC's, printers, and
software, it is extremely easy to combine text with
graphics, using a variety of possible fonts, to produce
extremely inviting printed materials. Remember that your
intended reader is also receiving printed materials from a
variety of other sources, and that they are limited to
having 24 hours a day available to them just like everyone
else. If your printed materials are to receive the focus
and attention you want, they must be both appealing and
inviting.
3 - CONTROL OVER COMMUNICATIONS - Since the trend
is to rely less on printed communications in favor of the
faster and more economical electronic communication methods,
a PC Workstation performs a vital role. Using the PC
Workstation to handle all telephone dialing (voice - FAX -
and computer modem calls), for example, is an enormous time
saver compared to doing it by hand. First, there is the
time savings from not having to look-up a number or
otherwise scratch around to find it. Second, since the
telephone number kept in the computer is the correct phone
number, there is a reduced chance of using an inappropriate
but correct number, and no chance of mis-dialing a number.
Thus, the possibility of dialing a wrong number is all but
eliminated.
Many modem communication software packages today
include the facility for script files which produce
automated log-on keying for computer communications. This
is obviously a big time saver for connecting with
information services such as CompuServe, Genie, etc. Since
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E-Mail and either uploaded or downloaded files are apt to be
a rapidly growing part of your overall communications, the
PC's ability to smoothly handle these functions is a must.
After the connection is established for a voice
communication, for either incoming or out going calls, the
PC Workstation fills an even more vital role by providing
reference information to support the conversation. Phone
call log notes of previous conversations with the same
person add a tone of certainty to your voice as you talk
with your contact about what happened in the past, as does
the certainty that you have the correct address or other
details about the contact. Clear communications with high
levels of certainty tighten your connection with the people
you are dealing with and impart a feeling of confidence for
them.
The ability to automatically send FAX's to selected
people in your contact management database adds a powerful
feature to your overall communication facilities. The
visual information being Faxed can be anywhere from
generalized promotional information to monthly statements.
4 - TIME MANAGEMENT - An array of software is
available today for scheduling your appointments and
activities. These software packages fall into the category
of Personal Information Managers (PIM's) and generally focus
on a daily calendar which breaks each day up into time
segments. A desktop tool such as this provides a means for
planning your work day, making space for appointments,
avoiding conflicts, and keeping track of deadlines and
various periodic events.
Of all the possible things you could use your PC
Workstation for, this small and simple application has a
high possibility of having a greater impact than any other
single use. Sales professionals have long known of the
benefits to be realized from the saying, "plan your work and
work your plan".
Personal scheduling software makes it possible to
structure the available time you have each day so that there
is enough time to accomplish all your objectives for the
day. Things which cannot be accomplished can be rolled
forward to the next or another day. Using software such as
this has a number of advantages beyond simply showing you
your schedule. First, it provides a very clear objective of
the first thing to be done upon turning on your computer in
the morning, since the first thing on your agenda should be
to check and perhaps modify your schedule (plan) for the
day.
The very act of mulling over your plan for the day,
perhaps switching some times or tasks, gives you the
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opportunity to fine tune your intended efforts for the day.
Sometimes, last minute ideas emerge that prove to be quite
valuable. This quick overall review of the way you intend
to spend the day and the things you intend to accomplish
tends to have a positive impact in the overall outcome.
A subtle result from using a scheduler is the reduction
of personal stress. Some people have a tendency to commit
to doing more things than a given interval of time will
allow. This leads to hyper activity in order to fulfill all
the commitments, detracts from the satisfactions normally
obtained, and sometimes forces a juggling of tasks, often
resulting in negative impacts. Other people tend to waste
extra time that crops up during the day because they can't
think of the 'back-burner' projects which invariably exist.
A personal scheduler helps you develop realistic time
estimates for your daily work, travel, errands, and chores.
It provides a way to structure the work for a given day so
that YOU are performing at your best throughout the day,
without the pressure of over commitment. It provides a way
for being reminded of and activating back-burner projects
when unexpected spare time develops during the day. The
clear overall net result is personal stress reduction, and a
resultant positive impact on all your activities.
5 - IDEA INCUBATOR - Using a simple text editor as a
'notepad' and a basic drawing program (both having a limited
but speedy command set), you can jot down new ideas and
images, and begin the process of manipulating your creative
thoughts into a more cohesive form. This collection of text
and graphical image files provides a place to copy and paste
text and images gathered from other applications and CD-ROM
presentations. These files become a personal resource for
developing new materials.
When new ideas become well enough defined, they can
then be passed on to more powerful word processors, drawing
programs, paint boxes, and desktop publishing software to
transform them into print on paper, FAX's, or files ready to
be transmitted by modem to other computers.
Interestingly, this 'doodle space' also provides an
excellent diversion activity for those times in-between
tasks when you simply need to think of something different
for a few minutes.
6 - MULTIMEDIA - With multimedia, the promise of the
information age is finally realized. Stunning animation
graphics, along with full digital stereo sound and massive
data accessibility produce a new way of experiencing a rich
one-on-one interactive environment.
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The massive data accessibility on a typical CD-ROM is
difficult to describe in terms of previous PC experience
with 'large' amounts of data available on disk. For
example, the typical CD-ROM disk has roughly 600 megabytes
of information on it. It would take over 1,600 of the
popular 5 1/4" low density diskettes used in PC's to contain
this much information!
7 - HOUSEKEEPING AND EDUCATIONAL - The Workstation
should have a collection of the appropriate tools for
managing the computer's files, their organization, and
backup, as well as on-line manuals, tutorials, and other
educational resources.
As these broad Workstation results are established and
the facilities for producing them are mastered, the overall
results and productivity to be experienced from the
Workstation increases at a geometric, perhaps even
exponential rate.
The technology, both hardware and software, is here
today for the Competitive PC Workstation environment. Many
people are using it daily to expedite their work and speed
their accomplishments. Your access to and mastery of a
suitable PC Workstation sets your level of competitiveness
for the attention and response of the marketplace in
general.
SAMPLE CONFIGURATIONS
As mentioned above, the machine environment is probably
the single most important variable for determining the
overall flow of results from a PC Workstation. Of the
various models of PC's already in existence, there are three
suitable machines for a Competitive PC Workstation, depending
upon what CPU chip is used in the PC itself: the 80286
(PC/AT), the 80386, and the 80486.
Each of these three basic machine environments can, in
turn, be fine tuned by the choice of the Operating
Environment and the User Interface software. Given the
range of options available, combinations for the Machine
Environment, Operating Environment, and User Interface
method are as follows:
1. The 80286 Environment. PC's having the 80286 CPU chip
and between 1 and 2 megabytes of memory can provide
satisfactory results as a Competitive PC Workstation.
By using DR DOS as the Operating environment, both
efficient task switching and good memory management can be
accomplished. Two other software products which are bundled
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with DR DOS can virtually double the hard disk's capacity
(SuperStor) and speed up disk reads and writes by setting up
a disk cache (Super PC-Kwik).
GeoWorks Pro would be the natural choice in this
environment for a Graphical User Interface. The array of
applications and desktop tools bundled with GeoWorks combine
well in this Machine and Operating Environment to produce a
snappy and responsive PC Workstation.
2. 80386 Environment. PC's having the 80386 CPU chip and
between 2 and 4 megabytes of memory conforms as a minimum
system for the standards set by the Multimedia PC Marketing
Council.
In keeping with the Council's standards, Microsoft DOS
may be used as the Operating Environment along with
Microsoft Windows for the Graphical User Interface. DR DOS,
however, could just as well be used for the DOS operating
system in order to obtain the advantages of SuperStor and
Super PC-Kwik.
3. 80486 Environment. PC's having the 80486 CPU chip and
about 6 megabytes of memory, along with IBM's OS/2 Operating
System would result in an extremely powerful and versatile
Competitive PC Workstation.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Take a larger view of your PC and it's probable role in
a broader range of your day-to-day activities.
Take a longer view of how a successful PC strategy will
help you consistently achieve your overall information
management and communication objectives through time.
These two 'pictures' will begin to define the
parameters of your future Competitive PC Workstation and are
an absolutely vital first step toward bringing it into
reality.
Your visualization of what your future PC Workstation
ought to be compared to what it is today must be done with
the cost of the hardware and software not being an object.
More about this later. Rather than money being the
constraint, realize that the ultimate constraint in getting
from where you are today to where you want to be is your own
learning curve. It controls the time it will take for you
to maximize the results which you are able to obtain from
the great body of high powered software involved in your PC
Workstation of the future. Your skill at using a PC and
the number of hours per day you are able to devote to
learning, implementing, and applying the expanded resources
of your PC Workstation are the decisively limiting factors.
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So, modulate the visualization of your future PC
Workstation with a realistic assessment of how much new
software and hardware you can really put to use within your
planned development interval. This should help bring 'pie
in the sky' system possibilities into a clearer 'reality'
focus, and when it does, you'll have established an
important PC Workstation objective for yourself.
Your PC hardware and software posture as it is today
compared to your PC Workstation objectives begins to
clearly define the procurements you'll need to make to
accomplish your objectives. With getting from here to there
in a clearer step-by-step focus, you can immediately begin
to implement the steps needed for it's fulfillment.
Now let's consider the cost of hardware and software to
get from where you are today to where you want to be. The
computer in general and the PC in particular are already
being heralded as the machine that changed the world. The
successful pursuit of your endeavors and indeed, your
livelihood, are apt to become increasingly dependent upon
your skillful application of the PC's power to accomplish
useful results. Now, with the advent of Multimedia CD-ROM
and it's interactive educational and creative capabilities,
the importance of being up to speed in all this is going
into 'warp drive'.
Since the potential cost of hardware and software for
even the most elaborate PC Workstation is nominal compared
to other 'important' things in life like cars and boats or
fancy audio/video systems, there is no reason why it
shouldn't have the highest of spending priorities.
For many people, the easiest place to get started with
making plans for a more serious approach to having a
Competitive PC Workstation environment is with the Physical
Environment. You should already know which factors
concerning your present PC environment are deficient, and
cause you to realize less than maximum results. Reevaluate
all the factors concerning your PC's Physical Environment
and identify the ones that specifically need changes or
modifications to bring them to a more ideal situation.
Begin taking steps to bring these changes into reality.
Next, get settled on what Machine Environment you
expect to be using for your Competitive PC Workstation and
take the steps needed to establish it. Unless you already
have a suitable Machine Environment, you will need to be
thinking about either replacing or upgrading the PC you
already have.
