Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

342 Omidyar, Pierreprovided for typing and printing documents and storingthem in a file system (see word processing).During the 1980s, the general-purpose desktop computer(see personal computer) became powerful enoughto supplant the dedicated word-processing system. Besidesproviding word-processing functions through ever moreversatile versions of programs such as WordPerfect. Word-Star, and Microsoft Word, the PC could also run programsto support bookkeeping, accounting, mailing list, and otherfunctions (see database management system and spreadsheet).Gradually, many of these separate programs weremerged into office suites such as Microsoft Office (see applicationsuite). Using a suite meant that information couldbe easily transferred between word-processing documents,spreadsheets, and database files, facilitating the generationof many kinds of reports and presentations.Later in the 1980s, two new aspects of office automationbegan to emerge: communication and collaboration. Theuse of special hardware and software to connect PCs withinan office or throughout the organization (see network andlocal area network) made new applications possible. E-mail began to replace printed memos or phone calls as thepreferred way for workers and management to communicate.Programs such as Lotus Notes and Microsoft Outlookadded features such as the ability of workers to share a commoncalendar of tasks, while scheduling software offeredmore elaborate ways to keep track of large, detailed teamprojects (see project management software).Today a variety of tools are available for facilitating collaboration.Most word-processing software now offers a featurecalled revision marking, which lets various editors andreviewers comment on or make revisions to a document.The author can then merge the revisions into a new draft.“Whiteboard” programs let several users on the networkwork simultaneously on the same virtual screen, drawingdiagrams or making outlines.TrendsEven as desk space was being cleared for the first office PCs,pundits began to claim that the “paperless office” was athand. Actually, the first stages of automation contributedto an increase in the use of paper. On the one hand, wordprocessors and other programs made it easier to generatedocuments and keep them up to date. On the other hand,the documents were all printed on paper—in part becausethe ability to share them electronically was nonexistent orrudimentary, and in part because many workers, particularlysenior executives, still preferred to work with paper.The growth of networking made it possible for morepeople to distribute documents electronically, while higherresolutionvideo displays made it easier to view pages onthe screen. During the 1990s, the inexpensive documentscanner (see scanner) made it practicable to scan incomingpaper documents into text files (see optical characterrecognition). While the office is not yet paperless, thetide of paper may now be receding at last.The ubiquity of the Internet and the use of the HTMLformat for documents (see html and lan) characterize thelatest phase in the evolution of office automation. Many corporateprocedure manuals and other resources are now beingstored on company Web sites where they can be updated easilyand consulted with the aid of search engines. Databasesto which workers need shared access are also being hostedthrough Web sites. HTML and XML are emerging as commonformats for exchanging documents between systems,along with Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF), whichoffers a faithful reproduction of the printed page.Changes in how the Internet is being used for communicationand collaboration are also having an impacton the office. In particular, blogs are being used as a wayfor key people to keep coworkers updated (see blogs andblogging), and wikis can be an effective way for building acommon knowledge base for both employees and customers(see wikis and Wikipedia).Many workers can now access the full resources of theoffice through laptop computers and Internet connections.Workers on the go can also use handheld or palm computerssuch as the PalmPilot (see pda) to access e-mail,calendar, and other information. The growing use of videoconferencingover the Internet using inexpensive camerasand broadband connections is also promoting the “virtualmeeting” (see video conferencing).Further ReadingBrown, M. Katherine, Brenda Huettner, and Char James-Tanny.Managing Virtual Teams: Getting the Most from Wikis, Blogs,and Other Collaborative Tools. Plano, Tex.: Wordware Publishing,2007.Greenbaum, Joan. Windows on the Workplace: Technology, Jobs, andthe Organization of Office Work. New York: Monthly ReviewPress, 2004.Mobile Office Technology. Available online. URL: http://mobileoffice.about.com/. Accessed August 16, 2007.Obringer, Lee Ann. “How Virtual Offices Work.” Available online.URL: http://communication.howstuffworks.com/virtual-office.htm. Accessed August 16, 2007.Sellen, Abigail J., and Richard H. R. Harper. The Myth of the PaperlessOffice. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2002.Scoble, Robert, and Shel Israel. Naked Conversations: How BlogsAre Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers. Hoboken,N.J.: Wiley, 2006.Wibbels, Andy. Blogwild!: A Guide for Small Business Blogging. NewYork: Penguin Group, 2006.Omidyar, Pierre(1967– )French-Iranian/AmericanEntrepreneur, InventorOne of the most remarkable stories of the development of e-commerce has been the online auction pioneered by PierreOmidyar and the hugely successful eBay auction site hefounded (see online auctions.)Omidyar was born on June 27, 1967, in Paris. His familyis of Iranian descent. While working in his high schoollibrary Omidyar encountered his first computer and soonwrote a program to catalog books. Omidyar enrolled atTufts University to study computer science. However, afterthree years he became bored with classes and went to work