Everything still sound scary? Well, just forget the jargon and simply pin down the sales reps to make sure that the network will do what you want.
Hire a consultant if need be. And follow the normal rule of computer shopping and check with existing customers to see if they’re happy.
Wise network shopping, as indicated earlier, can pay off.
In mid-1984, Madden, taking advantage of The WEB, was putting the finishing touches on some software modifications. With them, whenever Carsonville made new sales or bought new supplies, he could instantly see the results on the companies’ general ledger; and just as important, he and his colleagues could easily keep up with the costs of their existing contracts. They could compile a historical record, too, a big help in planning new bids. Now that Carsonville’s computers were talking, the humans might be talking more—about the new business that the sociable machines could help bring their way.
14
As The Jungle Thickens (AKA the Great Modeming)
This was to be my future chapter, the one about microcomputers in the year 2001. I at first wanted it short. So often the micro future prematurely becomes the micro past; and why devote too much space to making a fool of myself?
And why not spread the risks? Arthur C. Clarke seemed a better prophet.[[82]]
Several months earlier, in fact, he’d agreed to an interview via modems and the satellite links between Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Alexandria, Virginia. So now I’d show that my little Kaypro, with a free software program and a $150 modem, could talk almost instantly to a stranger’s computer on the other side of the planet for perhaps a fraction of the cost of a telex. It seemed fitting. Clarke, after all, had written 2010 with WordStar and decades ago had practically invented the idea of communications satellites.