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Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!ralph
From: ralph@utcsrgv.UUCP (ralph hill)
Newsgroups: net.cog-eng
Subject: Re: User-Friendly Re-Defined Access-Efficient
Message-ID: <2166@utcsrgv.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 1-Sep-83 21:29:18 EDT
Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.2166
Posted: Thu Sep  1 21:29:18 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 1-Sep-83 22:06:47 EDT
References: <985@ittvax.UUCP>
Organization: CSRG, University of Toronto
Lines: 27

I must take exception to Alan Wexelblat's most recent comment
(replying to Gary).

He implies that it is hard/expensive to do a good user interface on 
a PC (I presume IBM PC with 16 bit processor and >48k RAM) using
only Pascal.

In the summer of 1977 I saw a COBOL programmer do an accounting package
with a fantastic full screen interface in a compiled
BASIC on a 6800 with 48k RAM over a period of 6 months in his spare time.
No sh*t.

It was an amazing piece of work.

He made enough money off of that to buy an Onyx system.  I should look him
up and see what sort of stuff he can do with that.

Lack of tools, cost, ... are cop-outs.  Good interfaces don't have to be
slow, nor are they necessarily hard to make.  It just takes some
imagination and a willingness to invest some time in some software tools.

-------------------
         Ralph Hill   CSRG   University of Toronto

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