10 softolk
The Software Synthesisby Craig StinsonSix months ago the tranquility of the IBM Personal Computersoftware market was rent by an item called MBA, which took anelectronic spreadsheet, a database manager, a simple text processor,and a graphing module and bundled them into a single, integratedsoftware tool. The package, which required no less, than 256K ofuser memory, was arguably both the largest microcomputer programever written and the first to make effective use of the <strong>pc</strong>'s vastmemory-addressing capability.For its producers, Context Management Systems, MBA was alsosomething of a gamble.No one had ever tr.ied to integrate so many separate functionsinto one program before. To be sure, a number of companies haddeveloped families of programs that worked more or less harmoniouslytogether. Software Arts had developed its Data InterchangeFormat, which had paved the way for Personal Software's metamorphosisinto VisiCorp. Microsoft was at work on its Multi series,Information Unlimited on its Easy series, and so on. But theidea of a single program that would, say, transform spreadsheet datainto bar charts at the stroke of a finger and update those charts justas quickly in response to changes on the spreadsheet-that had notbeen tried before.There was reason to wonder whether the thing would work-notso much whether the MBA could be made bug-free, but whether itwas wise, from a performance standpoint, to throw so many separatekinds of functions into the same pot. Wouldn't that result insome fairly drastic reductions in the power of the individual modules?And wouldn't the end user, like a smart stereo buyer, prefer tobuy components and take his chances with their possible incompatibilities,rather than go all in for a grab-bag of the unknow~?Then there was the matter of that 256K. Machines of that capacitymay become commonpJace in 1983, as the cost of memorycomes down, but they were something of a stretch for the typical <strong>pc</strong>buyer in mid-<strong>1982</strong>. They were a stretch partly because, aside fromMBA, there wasn't much reason to put 256K on a <strong>pc</strong>.MBA, according to Context, was profitable in its first month ofavailability. It made the Softalk Top Thirty for the month of Juneand has been moving up steadily in the poll since then. Four monthsafter the program's debut, Context announced that the market opportunityappeared greater than their most optimistic anticipationsand that the firm was therefore accepting a million dollars in developmentalcapital from Brentwood Associates, a company that hadpreviously funded such winners as Apple Computer and FortuneComputer Systems.If drawing imitators is proof of success, then Context arrived inOctober. At that time, Lotus Development announced its introductionof a revolutionary new product, called 1-2-3, that took an elec-The Context management team. Opposite page, above: Gib Hoxie and Brian Fischer conceived MBA and abandoned successful consulting careersto create it. This page: Jim Peterson is in charge of Context's software team, while Marty Mazner shepherds the marketing department. Oppositepage, below: Jeff Walden is responsible for dealer training, and Mark Teitelman is the voice on the customer service line.for the IBM Personal Computer December <strong>1982</strong> 11
- Page 3 and 4: going now.Craig Stinson . . . . . .
- Page 6 and 7: STARTING FROM ZERO?lMeet(The INSTRU
- Page 8 and 9: lA person considering the purchase
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- Page 14 and 15: Gib Hoxie, left, explains the featu
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- Page 22 and 23: SYSTEM NOTEBOOKby·AJan BoydIOver t
- Page 24 and 25: mode to 132 columns.If you prefer u
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- Page 30 and 31: codes. This-is actually a miniature
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- Page 35 and 36: The Laws of Life••• • •
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- Page 41 and 42: SIMPLICITY:THE ULTIMATE SOFTWARE SO
- Page 43 and 44: FOR EACH$YOU PUTINTAX ANNUAL TAX YO
- Page 45 and 46: enter a flush right format and then
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- Page 50 and 51: Intelligent Statements, Holmes, PAK
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Ashton-Tate, Culver City, CAdBase l
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GMS Systems, New York, NYPower-Base
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Options-SO, Concord, MAOptions-80,
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signed specifically for public acco
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ment, fast assembler, general purpo
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hidden files, and a program that te
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dable to 256K. $499.Giltronix, Palo
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Cdex Trainingfor VisiCalc®Makes Vi
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Disk Drive Cover. Designed to prote
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An Index of Stocking Stuf fersHigh
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II systemicsby Larry ReaganThe Spar
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EIA RS-232. This is the standard us
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used to interface the filters to a
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Why pay h_undreds more fora four (a
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When Is Cloud NinePUh, Sometime Bet
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TRANSFORM YOUR IBM® TOTALLYGRAPHIC
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can backtrack up to eight pages to
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The Spelling Bee Is Over.Listen. We
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If r,ou're smart, you'll buy your.
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IntegerRealCharBoolean·numbers wit
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able may hold. As a variable of typ
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came from. They'd probably find it
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mation Unlimited Software and lnfoc