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- Hello, I own The Corner Store, a small store which is the
- Corner Store of the 21st Century. We carry what a village corner
- store for the 21st century should carry, art supplies, games,
- chess boards, classical CDs, computers, software and of course,
- OS/2 2.0.
- Why do we carry OS/2 2.0? It's about excitement, progress,
- adventure, fun. OS/2 is not just another pretty face, it's a new
- soul. It's the next step in the evolution of the computer.
- The power of OS/2 is excitement. OS/2's genesis, thousands of
- man-years of work and of evolution will truly start to integrate
- these fantastically complex machines into our civilization. How?
- The uniformity of the interface of OS/2 will create the
- "language" that will be the basis for the emerging culture. The
- culture, based on this language, an intuitive one, a unifying
- one, will bridge that void that now separates the "computer
- users" from those who still shun them, or those for whom the
- computer is not yet internalized into their work. The ease of
- use, and the awesome power of OS/2 will bring the era of
- Transparent computer, the use of the computer as an extension of
- one's tools to interact with the world.
- In this way, what IBM is presenting today to the press, and
- to the public, will shortly be known not as "IBM's OS/2", but
- will become subsumed into the general culture, as Euclid's
- postulates are subsumed into arithmetic, this is exciting! We are
- at the frontier of vast, unexplored regions, we are about to
- venture on a journey of discovery as the space probes which examine
- outer space, only this is inner space. This is virtual reality
- for the mind.
- Now, let me be a bit more concrete regarding the power of
- OS/2 2.0 Firstly OS/2 2.0 is a 32 bit operating system, the
- computer architecture quickly becoming the dominant one today.
- At my store, for example, that's all we sell. To me, selling
- a 32 bit microprocessor based machine and them using less than
- half it's power in the software is like buying a Maserati, but then
- never moving out of 2nd gear. For me, OS/2 assuages these almost
- "moral" perplexities at last evening the "technical race" between
- hardware and software. The silicon plus OS/2, the power to soar.
- Multitasking the ability to do more than one thing at once, under
- the control of the operating system. This is the platform of the
- "miracle programs" we have been hearing and dreaming about... A.I
- used in the background to study the user's needs, and to adapt
- and optimize itself to items, (much like a pet!) Programs which
- will truly organize our lives, updating all programs when one
- element, in one program, is changed. (For example, the "check
- bouncing scandal" we hear about is at least as much a question of
- organization, as it is about anything else)(Now, is it an asset
- or a liability to have politicians as our most devoted
- customers!)
- Any how, all of you can imagine those specialized
- applications requiring efficient multitasking that only OS/2 can
- deliver. Now, regarding the "satisfied customer" question. I have
- been a beta tester of 2.0 for quite a while, and have met fellow
- pioneers and adventures in many electronic realms. Recently I
- started a thread entitled " A party for Boca." I wanted to thank
- all the programmers who brought us OS/2 2.0 Well, I got
- contributions from throughout the world. Contributions from all
- over the U.S., from Spain, Germany from Australia, from Hong-
- Kong. In these "hard economic times" people are contributing
- money, and to most, it's not even tax deductible. They love OS/2!
- Upon someone else's suggestion we took part of a page in the
- Science Section of the NYT to thank these best of the best,
- brightest of the bright.
- A bit about myself. I have 3 children, the two oldest ones,
- ages 4 and 5 play with my computers at home and at work, and with
- OS/2 2.0 they love it ! They play with the operating system, the
- icon editor, they move things, open programs - real programmers!
- They go to school at the Montessori School in Northfield where
- IBM has donated an OS/2 license. The children there, who have
- seen OS/2 at my store are jumping up and down with excitement -
- OS/2 - that fun system from the Store! OS/2 is very friendly
- with children! This is the system they will grow up with, the system
- with which they will hack, with which they will produce, with which they will create, communicate, eat, drink and improve upon.
- I would like, in conclusion, to thank once again the team
- who brought us OS/2 2.0, from the programmers, all the way to the
- people at the top. We, the users and resellers of OS/2 thank you
- for your foresight, your tenacity in the face of adversity, for
- those same qualities which brought IBM from a typewriter
- manufacturer, to being the largest computer company in the world.
-
- Thank you!
-