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HOME COMPUTING ON OS/2
August 31, 1993
Wayne M. Caswell
IBM PSPD
COPYRIGHT INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION 1993.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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PREFACE
VISION:
What's the future of computing? Try 2.5 PCs in every home
by the end of the decade. That's the view of Channel
Marketing Corporation, the Dallas market research and
consulting firm that projects that more than 100 million
computers will be sold in 1999 (not by 1999). What are the
market drivers? Parents working more at home. Kids
Education. Hand-held and notebook PCs. And interactive
TV.(1)
IBM is in a unique position to take the lead in computer
growth for the home. This is because of its collection of
enabling technologies, skills and alliances. IBM
technologies will make personal computers more portable,
more powerful and much easier to use, expanding their role
and improving their benefit. As collaborative business
systems, they'll help you stay in touch with people and
information, any time and anywhere you happen to be. And as
personal agents, they'll act as your partner and advisor,
letting you spend more time with family while improving
business effectiveness. You'll have more freedom over where
and when you work and live.
This paper is intended to show existing PC users how IBM
technologies can be applied to home computing applications
and how OS/2 provides unique benefits as a PC operating
system for the home. There is still much work to be done to
make OS/2 (and personal computers in general) more of a
consumer product, like the telephone or TV or VCR. Almost
every household in America has a phone and TV. Many have
several. Computer technology, however, is still too new,
lacks compelling applications, and is too difficult to use
for many consumers to be interested. That's the current
view, but OS/2 is helping to change that view.
DISCLAIMER:
The information contained in this document has not been
submitted to any formal IBM test and is distributed on an
"as is" basis without any warranty either express or
implied. The use of this information or the implementation
of any of these techniques is a customer responsibility and
depends on the customer's ability to evaluate and integrate
them into the customer's operational environment. While
each item may have been reviewed by IBM for accuracy in a
specific situation, there is no guarantee that similar
outcomes will result elsewhere. Customers attempting to
adapt these techniques to their own environments do so at
their own risk. This information is not intended to be an
assertion of future action or a commitment to deliver
products.
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1 Tom Steinert-Threlkeld, "The Dallas Morning News," July
3, 1993, p. F1.
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DIRECT COMMENTS CONCERNING THIS PAPER AND ANY CORRECTIONS
TO:
MAIL: Wayne Caswell
Program Manager, Marketing Strategies
IBM Personal Software Products Division
11400 Burnet Rd. Bldg.808, Zip 2999
Austin, TX 78758
TELEPHONE: 512-823-1746 / TL-793-1746
(external/internal VOICE line)
512-823-2733 / TL-793-2733
(external/internal FAX line)
IBM FORUMS: OS2HOME on IBMPC (IBM internal forum)
IBMMAIL: USIB2H7H
INTERNET: WCASWELL@VNET.IBM.COM
PROFS: WCASWELL at AUSVM1
The author (and IBM) may use or distribute any information
you supply in any way believed appropriate without incurring
any obligation whatever.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
HOME COMPUTING ON OS/2
Operating System/2 Highlights
A Vision of Home Computing Today
Today's Advantages for the Work-at-home Office
Choosing Application Software
Telecommunications
Electronic Mail
On-line Services
Advanced Telephone Features
Voice Mail
Facsimile
Fax-on-demand
Family Advisor
Financial Management Software
On-screen Reminder System
Education and Games
Multimedia
Music Education
Graphics and Photographs
Video and TV
Special Needs
Voice Recognition
Language Translation
A Vision of Home Computing Tomorrow
Tomorrow's Promise for the "Electronic Home"
Home Network and Automation
High Speed Communications
Interactive TV
Standards and Regulations
Developing Applications with Reusable Objects
Happy Home Computing Requirements
Multitasking
Compatibility with your PC Hardware and Applications
Ease of Learning and Use
Ease of Installation
Leaving your PC up and running
Choosing the location of your PC
Choosing the Right Hardware
Backup and Recovery
Don't forget Insurance
Preparing for Scheduling Conflicts
Who works at Home?
Technical Tips for OS/2 users at Home
Can't Microsoft Windows do that?
OS/2 Awards
Information Sources
Ordering Information
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HOME COMPUTING ON OS/2
OS/2 has the potential to change the way you use your
computer, elevating it from hobby status to home appliance
and tool, and increasing its value to you and your entire
family. This guide includes a vision of home computing that
happens when you leave your computer powered on and run a
multitasking system like OS/2. It then describes how to
happily apply OS/2 technology today. Although OS/2 is known
as the world's leading system for enterprise computing,
you'll soon discover its potential in the home.
OPERATING SYSTEM/2 HIGHLIGHTS
OS/2 2.1 is the latest release of IBM's award-winning PC
operating system. OS/2 Version 2 was more than a new
version. It was a new vision and a breakthrough operating
system that exploits the power of today's 32-bit Intel-based
processors (386, 486, etc.). It takes your PC applications
beyond the limitations of the past and lets you do more with
them than you ever could with DOS or with DOS & Windows. It
also lets you run tens of thousands of DOS, Windows and OS/2
applications, and run them concurrently -- an important
capability for the work-at-home household. In other words,
true multitasking.
"But wait a minute. Why should I care about multitasking?"
you may ask. "I only do one thing at a time." That's
because your PC operating system only lets you do one thing
at a time. But is your dinner prepared that way?
1. Pour a drink.
2. Wait until finished drinking.
3. Prepare a salad.
4. Eat the salad.
5. Prepare a potato.
6. Eat the potato.
7. Prepare the meat.
8. Eat the meat.
9. Prepare desert.
10. ...
No. As ridiculous as this scenario is, it makes you wonder
why anything would work that way. A cook sets up each item,
cooking and switching between tasks as he feels necessary.
A cook handles interruptions, such as a pot boiling over,
and switches attention as needed. The potato and steak
continue cooking (in the background) while the cook takes
the pot off of the burner or prepares the desert. A
computer should do the same and can with OS/2. And with
OS/2 Crash Protection, each running application is protected
from the next, so if one fails it won't affect the others.
About the only thing better than how much OS/2 can do, is
how easily it does it all. There's a graphical interface --
the WorkPlace Shell -- that makes OS/2 easy to install,
learn and use. And OS/2 comes with a collection of support
services, including a toll-free number. But maybe the best
part is that instead of buying DOS, Windows and other
software to get more out of your computer, you get them all
with OS/2. So for a whole lot less, OS/2 gives you a whole
lot more.
That's why over 2 million copies of OS/2 were sold during
its first nine months and why hundreds of hardware vendors
and thousands of software developers are supporting it. And
now version 2.1 is available with even more features and
even better performance.
o OS/2 is Versatile: It runs virtually all DOS, Windows &
OS/2 applications from a single system. OS/2 2.1 adds
support for Windows 3.1 and Windows Enhanced Mode
applications. You can even run Standard Mode and
Enhanced Mode applications at the same time.
o OS/2 is Fast: It makes the most of your 32-bit hardware
(Intel 386 SX and above). OS/2 removes the memory
limitations of DOS and gives your programs more space to
grow. By using your disk drive and virtual storage
technology, OS/2 lets your application programs think
they each have up to 512 million bytes of memory, and it
does it automatically. OS/2 runs the fastest 32-bit
applications and the older 16-bit DOS and Windows
applications. In general, it runs them as fast or
faster than under DOS or Windows.
o OS/2 is Simple: OS/2 includes the Workplace Shell, a
state-of-the-art graphical interface that is easier to
learn and use than other graphical windowing systems.
But if you are already a Windows user and don't want to
take time learning a new interface, you can start any of
your DOS, Windows or OS/2 programs from a familiar
Windows interface. As you learn more about the
Workplace Shell, however, you'll likely make the switch
to improved productivity.
o OS/2 is Technically Superior: OS/2 has been praised for
its Preemptive Multitasking, Overlapped I/O, High
Performance File System, and Crash Protection. Although
most of the application examples used in this paper can
be done today on DOS and Windows, this paper should show
why OS/2 is a superior environment for running those
applications.
o OS/2 2.1 includes built-in Multimedia Support: It
accommodates popular sound cards and CD-ROM drives and
includes software to support audio (record & play), and
and software motion video (play).
If your computer has a 386 SX or better, you should consider
OS/2 2.1 so you can exploit the 32-bit power you paid for.
With OS/2 you can finally do the only thing you haven't been
able to do with your computer -- make the most of it.
OS/2's reliable multitasking lets you leave your system
powered on with your favorite applications just an icon away
while service applications (such as fax & phone mail and
energy & security management) run in the background. And
OS/2 runs well on most of the current systems being sold,
since they are typically 386 or 486-based.
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A VISION OF HOME COMPUTING TODAY
TODAY'S ADVANTAGES FOR THE WORK-AT-HOME OFFICE
For the many people who work out of their home, OS/2
provides an ideal operating environment for productive
multitasking. For others, who buy a home computer so they
can bring office work home and spend more time with their
family, OS/2 offers the freedom to run the DOS or Windows
applications that you might already have at home as well as
the OS/2 applications that you run at the office -- or the
power to try new OS/2 applications at home while your office
mates still trudge along with DOS or Windows.
CHOOSING APPLICATION SOFTWARE
OS/2 comes with a collection of applications and games that
provides instant productivity. They include a basic
spreadsheet, database, graphics editor, calculator,
calendar, daily planner, communications program, and more.
And you can choose from the vast selection of supported
software.
o DOS applications (30,000+)
o Windows applications (7,000+)
o 16-bit OS/2 applications (2,500+)
o 32-bit OS/2 applications (1,300+)
The leading categories of application software haven't
changed in years. The top five (in order of popularity)
still include Word Processing, Database Management,
Presentation Graphics, Spreadsheet, and
Accounting/Budgeting. Application software can be found
today for everything from writing a business plan to
managing sales, advertising and personnel. Although new
32-bit applications are available in all major categories,
you may have existing preferences or a need to run older
16-bit applications. OS/2 lets you protect past investments
while moving forward with new technologies.
When selecting OS/2 applications some people will choose an
integrated package such as PFS: Works.(2) Others will choose
individual packages from a consistent family, such as that
provided by Computer Associates.(3) And still others will
select best of breed packages in each application category,
such as Lotus 1-2-3 and WordPerfect.(4) But perhaps the most
exciting applications are those new ones written from ground
up to exploit the advanced 32-bit power of OS/2. DeScribe
is such an application. If you desire an OS/2 application
that combines advanced word processing functions with
powerful desktop publishing features and extensive drawing
capabilities, there's really just one word to know --
DeScribe.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Whether it is facsimile or data, communications is one of
the most compelling reasons for OS/2's multitasking
features. OS/2 lets you send or receive a fax, down-load
mail or programs from a BBS, and even run your own BBS in
the background -- all while doing other PC tasks such as
writing a letter or printing in the foreground.
ELECTRONIC MAIL
Forget printing, stuffing envelopes, licking stamps,
frantically running to the post office, and paying for
overnight services to meet a deadline. With a modem and
E-mail (as with fax) you can send memos, letters, and other
information to your clients or suppliers around the world
and around the clock -- at 3:00 a.m. if you like. With a
press of a key, your message is signed, sealed and delivered
to the right person, on time. E-mail can be a real time,
money and aggravation saver. You can use services like MCI
Mail to send to large distribution lists of other E-mail
users and non-E-mail users, in which case MCI can convert
your documents to fax or printed form using your company
letter-head.
ON-LINE SERVICES
In addition to sending mail electronically, you can also tap
into large libraries of on-line information to read the
day's news, see the latest stock quotes, reserve an airline
ticket, do your banking, and order anything from office
supplies to a new wardrobe. You can even turn your own PC
into an on-line service or bulletin board system (BBS),
letting other PC users access your inventory, products or
information and place orders. When selecting a modem to
connect to an on-line service like CompuServe, Prodigy or
America On-line, modem speed and data compression are
primary factors.
ADVANCED TELEPHONE FEATURES
You can use your PC and modem to add convenience features to
your telephone. These include auto-dialing, automatic call
back of busy numbers, activity reporting (especially useful
if billing for your time), and caller identification
(requires a phone line feature) to display the database
record of the person who is calling or to screen out
unwanted calls.
VOICE MAIL
More of today's work-at-home offices include telephone
answering machines (66%) than include PCs (51.3%).(5) For
business use, the inexpensive models that record on magnetic
tape suffer from a lack of important features (e.g. ability
to keep some messages and erase others). Digital answering
machines address some of these issues but are costly, as
much as $200. With a PC and OS/2 there's another
alternative. Some of today's modems combine data, fax and
voice functions and let the one-person home office compete
with the big guys. Voice Mail replaces the tape answering
machine that doesn't cut it for business use. People expect
lots of choices ("press 1 for customer service; 2 for sales;
9 for world peace"). Data/fax/voice modems are available
from vendors such as AT&T, Micronix, and IBM(6) (see below)
and cost as little as $399 including software.
FACSIMILE
Stand-alone fax machines are another popular investment for
the home office, but rather than rush out and spend $400 for
a low-cost fax machine (or up to $3000 for one with rich
features), consider a fax modem instead. A fax modem does
everything that regular modems do, like connecting you to
services such as Prodigy, CompuServe or bulletin boards.
But it also sends and receives faxes. When sending a fax
straight from your PC application, however, the quality is
much better than sending from a fax machine. It's almost as
good as a laser printer. So now your PC can serve as a
top-of-the-line plain-paper fax machine capable of sending
dozens of faxes with the push of a button. And best of all,
it will cost you less than a traditional fax machine --
under $150 for the software or $300 for adapter card and
software.
Some sample products include:
o BitFax for OS/2, $99 software from Bit Software, Inc.
(408-263-2197)
o FaxWorks for OS/2, $149 software from SofNet
(800-432-9967)
o Fax/PM, from Microformatic USA (203-644-1708)
o Home Office, $299 retail from Prometheus Products (modem
& software)
o WinFax PRO, $119 software from Delrina Technology
These products offer a variety of rich features including
sending faxes with your letterhead and signatures. Getting
them into your system the first time is easy. Just use a
fax machine to send your stationery to yourself. When
broadcasting group faxes, each could have a different
message on the cover sheet and the entire job can be
scheduled for midnight when long distance rates are lower.
Incoming faxes can be forwarded to another machine when you
are not there to receive them. And OCR (optical character
recognition) software can convert fax images into editable
text that takes less hard disk space to store and 50% less
time to print.
But there are some (usually minor) drawbacks. You won't be
able to send original paper documents without also buying a
scanner and going through the extra step of scanning the
document into the PC. And faxes, especially those with lots
of graphics, takes up lots of disk space. You'll likely
want to delete fax images once they are printed. In general
though, you'll get more fax features with a PC than with a
stand-alone unit, and you'll be able to do some neat tricks
that just aren't possible otherwise.
FAX-ON-DEMAND
This technology is a merger of telephony, fax, and database
applications and was once only affordable by large
companies. Your customers can now dial into your PC to
"request" specific fax documents. Recorded telephone
messages prompt the user to select document numbers through
the telephone key-pad, then ask for the phone number of
their fax machine, and finally faxes the documents
automatically. Two examples of software to create
fax-on-demand systems include:
o FaxForward, $1,495-2,495 from Computer Systems
Integration, Inc. (401-331-1117)
o Open+Fax, $1,795 from Open+Voice, Inc. (214-497-9022)
FAMILY ADVISOR
There are many PC programs available that play an advisory
role. They cover financial Issues (budgets, taxes, estate
planning, net worth...), legal Issues (writing wills, lease
contracts...), medical Issues (first aid, diet and exercise
planning...), home Repair, trip Planning, general reference,
etc.
Again, most of these programs can run under DOS or Windows,
but OS/2's multitasking can make using them more convenient.
OS/2 can also make it easier to exchange information between
programs, using techniques such as cut & paste, dynamic data
exchange (DDE), object linking and embedding (OLE), and
more. That's one reason IBM calls OS/2 "The Integrating
Platform."
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
This is a class of home application that is used to write
checks, manage budgets, and gather data for taxes. Examples
include Managing Your Money, Microsoft Money, and Quicken.
Information is entered only once, instead of being written
on the check and then into the check register. The system
keeps track of repetitive payments to make even that one
entry easier.
Newer printers allow you to insert single checks from your
check book, so you don't even need special forms if you want
the computer to print your checks for you. With the right
printer, you won't have to change printer paper.
Although this kind of application can run under DOS or
Windows and use any printer, you'll find that it becomes
easier to justify and a joy to use if you choose the right
printer and leave the system powered on with OS/2 and the
application started and waiting in the background -- waiting
to write your next check.
ON-SCREEN REMINDER SYSTEM
One of the most important things needed for the productive
home-office is self-discipline. OS/2 can't substitute for
this personal trait, but it can help. It comes packaged
with alarms, a calendar, a daily planner and an electronic
sticky pad. And if you are already used to using the basic
calendar that comes with Windows, you'll find that included
with OS/2 too. These simple tools can prove useful for an
individual who has his office at home or a family that needs
to post messages and reminders to each other. So, you may
never miss another birthday or anniversary.
EDUCATION AND GAMES
Freedom of choice is an advantage when selecting business
software and an for educational software and games too.
While you use the PC for business, your children can use it
to create their own music videos, take imaginary trips down
the Amazon, or practice economic skills by running a
dinosaur theme park. All this in the name of education.
Textbook publishers are starting to produce software
alternatives as big states like California and Texas begin
allowing textbook budgets to be spent on software. Optical
Data's Windows on Science, a videodisc-based science
program, was adopted by the state of Texas in 1990 as a
textbook alternative. And California has put out a
framework for education that requires technology to be
integrated with any printed material, especially in math, by
1995.
Unlike school software, however, home education products
must compete with all other things a kid could be doing --
like watching TV, playing video games, even reading a book.
Home software must be fun or it will become shelfware. By
exploiting today's computer hardware, advanced graphics and
sound, new programs (like Davidson's Math Blaster, which
lets kids solve math problems by blasting numbers out of the
sky) have given birth to the new term "edutainment" to
describe software that both teaches and entertains.(7)
MULTIMEDIA
Two of the most exciting technologies to affect education
are multimedia and the optical compact disk (CD-ROM). The
CD-ROM drive can play music from audio CDs and can also
access up to 600 MB of data on computer CDs. With access to
so much storage, the games and educational software
delivered on CD are rich in exciting images, digitized voice
and music, animated graphics, and even TV-like video.
Because entire multimedia encyclopedias can now fit on a
single compact disk, more electronic encyclopedias are sold
today than printed ones.
OS/2 is an ideal environment for running your DOS games and
multimedia applications, especially if something else needs
to run as well (like fax or voice mail). It effectively
supports the heavy demands of sound, image, animation and
video that weren't even considered when DOS was written.
Unlike word processors and other business software that
gracefully wait until their turn to use the central
processor, multimedia applications can't tolerate delays
without a loss in presentation quality. Video must be
delivered fast enough to not appear jerky, and sound must be
synchronized with the action. OS/2 supports preemptive
multitasking that can guarantee responsiveness to your
multimedia applications so you don't have to dedicate your
computer to running a single program.
With the release of OS/2 2.1, Multimedia Presentation
Manager/2 (MMPM/2) is packaged with OS/2. It supports a
wide variety of CD-ROM drives and sound cards and can even
handle concurrent use of the sound card by game and music
software so you can listen to Mozart and the sound effects
of your action game at the same time. And it comes with a
collection of sounds that are associated with system events
such as opening or closing a window, picking up or dropping
an object, and information or warning messages, thus
transforming the OS/2 desktop into a multimedia-enabled
workplace.
MUSIC EDUCATION
You would like Johnny to learn piano, so you buy an
electronic piano keyboard, and a software package is
provided which teaches music theory & composition, stores
songs, prints sheet music from the score, and electronically
scans in sheet music converting it to MIDI formats for
editing and playback in CD quality.(8) (see below)
GRAPHICS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
OS/2 can help when working with computer graphics. Graphic
files with high resolution and lots of colors can be quite
large. Editing them can require lots of storage, often more
than DOS allows, especially if you have any special device
drivers. OS/2 gives your DOS applications access to more
storage, making new functions possible and improving the
performance of existing functions. OS/2-specific
applications have access to even more memory and can benefit
from 32-bit performance and virtual storage.
The Kodak Photo-CD lets you take your 35mm film to be
processed and get back the prints and an optical disk with
digitized images. The images can be read from a CD-ROM XA
drive and displayed on your computer. You can even edit
copies of the pictures and print them or include them in
documents. With Kodak's exciting new technology and a
CD-ROM XA drive, the power of multimedia is available to
anyone with a camera.
VIDEO AND TV
Add-on products like IBM's PS/2 TV let you view TV
broadcasts in a window or full screen on your computer
monitor. You can simultaneously connect to your telephone
and TV cable to check the morning news and weather on
Prodigy while watching The Today Show in a TV window.
OS/2 2.1 includes built-in support of a new type of video,
called digital video, with no need for additional hardware.
In contrast to analog video (e.g. TV broadcasts), digital
video lets you electronically retrieve and play video clips
from your hard disk or CD, access digital interactive TV for
education and games, or participate in a video conference
with someone anywhere in the world. Advances in
communication speeds promise to make video conferencing a
mainstream application, letting you spend more time with
your family or giving you more choice over where you live.
SPECIAL NEEDS
For most people, technology makes things easier. For the
disabled, technology makes things possible. The PC can be
the window to much of the world for the blind and others
with vision problems, and it offers new hope to the deaf,
the voiceless, slow learners, the mentally retarded, to
people with brain injuries, and -- most dramatically -- to
those contending with severe mobility problems.(9) When the
appropriate equipment is attached to a PC, these people can
control their environment and communicate with virtually
anyone with little or no assistance.
A wide array of products already exist to aid the disabled,
including systems that talk, listen, teach, communicate and
translate for the user. Although most of these products are
designed for DOS, OS/2 lets them work together with other
applications. Grandfather, for example, has difficulty
reading a news paper because of his failing eye sight. With
OS/2 and Prodigy, he can download and read his personalized
"electronic" newspaper, specially enlarged and displayed on
a big screen that has been customized with his favorite
colors and large fonts.
Combined with voice recognition and home automation (see
Home Network and Automation), the PC also recognizes
Grandfather's spoken commands so he doesn't have to get up
to turn on the lights or make a phone call.
VOICE RECOGNITION
IBM's desktop dictation technology provides the most
accurate and sophisticated speech recognition capabilities
available today. Featuring a 20,000 word vocabulary, it
takes dictation at a throughput of more than 70 words per
minute. What makes it unique is its use of advanced
algorithms, developed by IBM Research, to analyze acoustical
data and word sequences to correctly choose between
like-sounding words, such as "to," "two" and "too" or "our"
and "hour," and to recognize the start of a sentence and
provide capitalization. In addition, IBM's desktop
dictation technology has navigation capabilities which let
users use voice commands to move around within their
document or the system while dictating. You can control the
operation of your PC using voice commands and a microphone
(next is telephone and intercom).
With voice recognition you can dictate your letters (or even
a book) instead of typing them. When combined with voice
synthesis software, you could call your computer to request
that your electronic mail or faxes be read to you over the
phone and then dictate your response, which is sent as if
you had typed it.
LANGUAGE TRANSLATION
Within five years, we'll also start to see the impact of
real-time language translation. This future technology will
let you talk to someone in Mexico who doesn't speak or
understand English. The computer will be your translator.
But this is FUTURE and belongs in the next section. OS/2 is
TODAY.
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2 PFS: Works for OS/2, from Spinnaker Software Corp, takes
full advantage of OS/2's power and function and retails
for just $149.
3 Computer Associates has a popular line of productivity
and business software for Windows. Although these
packages can already run under OS/2, CA is rebuilding
their entire line to better exploit the power of OS/2.
4 Again you will find that the DOS and Windows versions
run under OS/2, but the OS/2 versions exploit unique
OS/2 functions for added power and convenience. As an
example, WordPerfect 5.2 for OS/2 comes filled with
best-of-breed features and advanced Workplace Shell
integration. And with OS/2, you can exchange
information between applications that never knew they'd
be working together, so the new ones you buy will work
with the old ones you already have.
5 Link Resources.
6 For just $399, the IBM Mwave WindSurfer Communications
Adapter utilizes Mwave technology to consolidate the
separate data/FAX modem and voice messaging & telephone
answering functions into a single add-in card with
supporting software for the DOS/Windows environment.
Even greater benefits for the home-office, however, will
come with planned OS/2 support and the programmability
of the Mwave Digital Signal Processor (DSP) developed by
IBM, Texas Instruments and Intermetrics. Because the
DSP is programmable, the WindSurfer can acquire new
functions through software upgrades. Functions such as
higher speed modems, stereo sound, MIDI, speech
recognition, text-to-speech, image
compression/decompression and even motion video
acceleration are possible without changing the hardware.
7 "Computer Letter," May 24, 1993, v9 n17, p. 1-7.
8 The IBM WindSurfer provides CD quality stereo sound with
sample rates up to 44.1 KHz. Its state-of-the-art
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) sound comes
from digital samples of actual instruments instead of
the combination of noises to make music, a common
technique used in today's sound boards.
9 IBM's National Support Center for Persons with
Disabilities was created to help professionals and
others learn how computers can enhance the work and life
styles of people with disabilities. To visit the Center
or for more information, call 1-800-426-2133 (voice) or
1-800-284-9482 (TDD).
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A VISION OF HOME COMPUTING TOMORROW
TOMORROW'S PROMISE FOR THE "ELECTRONIC HOME"
The previous section covered what can easily be done today.
In this section, we'll look at the future of home computing,
knowing that some of the applications are already in use by
early adopters today and that others are still in
development.
HOME NETWORK AND AUTOMATION
Children studying for school on the PCs in their room share
information with the master PC in the den. From their PC,
they can print on the downstairs printer, or use its modem
to access Prodigy and dial into vast libraries, or access
its CD-ROM drive and multimedia encyclopedia. Today, they
may use DOS or Windows on desktop PCs and connect via an
unused phone line, but soon they'll use sub-notebook systems
and wireless networks. You too will use sub-notebook or
hand-held computers and wirelessly connect to mail services
or your home computer, keeping in touch anytime and anywhere
you happen to be.
But your home network can connect more than just personal
computers. It can also include an array of intelligent
devices for complete home automation. As appliances gain
computer intelligence, the differences between PC and
intelligent device will blur. You'll likely see PC
technology in televisions and could even see it built into
the refrigerator door. Wouldn't it be neat to network your
bathroom scale to the refrigerator, automatically locking
the fridge door if your weight exceeds a preset limit? I'm
just kidding, although that may not be a bad idea. Here is
a sample of what "is" possible with today's technology.
Adrian, our 9 year old, is watching the TV in the den
while gathering goodies from the kitchen. When he
takes his snack to his room, the TV in his room turns
on to the same channel, and the TV in the den turns
off. When it's study time, he's not allowed access to
the TV at all. The rest of the time he can watch
programming that has been selected for him, such as The
Discovery Channel. And certain channels, such as HBO
or MTV have been reserved as rewards, to be paid for
with earned credits. If Adrian doesn't get home from
school on time and enter his security code, we get an
automatic phone call.
During the week, Yvonne and I go to bed about 11:00 PM
after watching the news. Before retiring, we use a
telephone key pad (or intercom with voice recognition)
to start a script of commands that turns off the TV,
arms the security system, puts the lighting into sleep
mode, and sets the thermostat. If Yvonne gets up at
2:00 AM to get a cold drink from the kitchen, the
security system tracks her movement and turns lights on
in front of her and off behind her. If the system had
detected an unexpected presence (a potential burglar),
it would have tripped an alarm and announced the likely
point of break in.
In the morning, a second script starts at a pre-set
time, turns up the thermostat and hot water heater,
turns on the bathroom lights, opens the curtains to let
the light in, and wakes Yvonne and I with our favorite
music. I respond with a command, "Computer, Access
Calendar," and voice recognition software responds to
my command to access today's activities, and then
"reads" them through the intercom speaker. I might
then ask for yesterday's articles on IBM, the status of
stocks I'm tracking, or a summary of my net worth.
I control the operation of my house the same way that I
control other PC programs. For example I might use the
mouse, icon objects, and drag & drop capabilities of
OS/2's WorkPlace Shell to re-program home automation
tasks. First I click on the House icon, which brings
up a scanned-in picture of our floor plan. Then I
click on the master bedroom, which zooms in with more
detail so I can select both lamps on either side of the
bed. The right mouse button shows the functions of the
lamp objects in the same way that it shows the
functions of all other objects in OS/2. Instead of
using a mouse, I could also control my PC or house with
a keyboard, touch screen or voice commands.
The computer now acts as my partner and advisor,
letting me spend more time with family while helping me
improve business effectiveness. And I have more
control of where and when I work and live.
These Home Automation benefits have long been available for
technofanatics willing to pay $20,000 to $200,000. Now it
is possible, at reasonable prices, to link once separate
systems (telephony, security, voice recognition,
heating/cooling, lighting and appliance control,
audio/visual, etc.) into an integrated whole -- a Home
Network. And Home Automation saves money, cutting utility
bills an average of 20% - 30%.(10)
If the PC plays a role in home automation today, it is
typically just to program a stand-alone controller device
and then disconnect. That's because of the relatively high
cost of dedicating a PC to control and monitoring functions.
But with a multitasking operating system (OS/2) and a PC
that is already purchased for other functions, it becomes
easier to justify having the PC play a greater role. One
advantage of using the PC as home automation controller is
the ability to include artificial intelligence features so
your system learns your habits and acts accordingly, making
useful suggestions. Another advantage is the ability to
access more information (e.g. weather and utility rates that
may change hourly) so it can better determine the least
expensive time to water the lawn or run the washer and
dryer.
HIGH SPEED COMMUNICATIONS
Key to our nation's success in the Industrial Age was a
transportation system that moved raw materials to factories
and then on to consumers. As we move through the
Information Age, our success depends on a communications
system based on an "information highway," as proposed by the
Clinton Administration. High speed communications will be
one of the most important technologies for the future. It
will affect how we live, where we live and the landscape of
our cities, just as electricity did in the early 1900s.
Our grandparents may have had electric lights, but there
were few electric motors. Nothing to spin the laundry or
run the dish washer or play the VCR. So they couldn't
imagine how air conditioning and elevators would bring
people together into tall buildings. Today, we are just
starting to imagine the impact of personal computing and
high speed communications.
The nation is being rewired with fiber optics. When you see
cable companies digging up the street, you can bet they are
laying new fiber, and the same goes for telephone companies.
We expect to see multi-gigabit/sec phone lines in the
mid-90's and speeds measured in terabits/sec by the year
2000. (At 1 Tbit/sec, you could ship the Encyclopedia
Britanica in 1.5 milliseconds!).
INTERACTIVE TV
The fiber that eventually finds its way into your home will
carry all kinds of information services (telephone,
newspaper, home shopping, home banking, mail, etc), but the
most compelling application is likely to be Interactive TV.
Cable companies want to replace movie rental companies,
giving you the ability to select from thousands of titles
for viewing when you want to instead of when they are
broadcast, pausing for breaks when you want to instead of
when the networks decide to. As you might imagine, rental
companies like Block Buster Video and networks like CBS and
NBC view this as competition and opportunity. But consider
the benefits to the consumer:
o ELECTRONIC TV GUIDE: Downloaded to your PC once a week,
the electronic TV guide helps you find your way through
the greatly expanded collection of programming that has
become available. You search through available programs
by key word and schedule automatic video taping of your
favorites. You'll be guided along by your computer with
new user interfaces that make programming today's VCR
seem like programming computers in COBOL, and your PC
will learn your preferences and make appropriate
suggestions.
o INTERACTIVE TV EDUCATION: Students can participate in
interactive education through their TV, having access to
the world's best specialists in their field of study.
Teachers can reach more students, and students have
access to more teachers and subject experts. Multimedia
and the ability to pull the best teachers together
electronically can enrich the learning process and
better prepare our children to compete in a global
society and do this at less cost.
o SEARCH, CUT & PASTE: Johnny can search for specific
still images or video clips for a book report using key
words and hyperlinks. He then pastes the image or video
into his document. His "report" is submitted
electronically, and the teacher clicks on an icon to
view the video.
o JUST-IN-TIME EDUCATION: You can view portions of "how
to" videos right when you need them and without having
to view the entire video, just the part about fixing the
leak under the sink. If you need more help, you can be
connected to an expert through video conferencing.
o VIDEO CONFERENCING: You initially were excited about
the potential need for less business travel, but you
discover that the real benefit is your ability to bring
collections of experts together more quickly. This
gives you a competitive edge -- from your home, which is
now on the beach or in the mountains. Some of the
experts you include in your conference don't even speak
English, but their PCs translate for them. You realize
that you are no longer constrained to hire talent from
within a limited geography but have access to the world.
The result is that nations who succeed in the
Information Age are the ones who had vision and invested
in infrastructure -- "The Information Highway."
"Wo ha! Let's get back down to earth! Is all this really
going to happen?" you say. Yep... and more, but your mind
may already be spinning (mine is).
STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS
Change of this magnitude brings large challenges, many in
the area of standards. IBM is committed to industry
standards and currently sits on over 3500 standards
committees around the world. With all of the arguments over
standards and who has access to the fiber, the FCC still has
not yet decided who will get the right to bring it into your
home and what services will be allowed on it. The politics
are overwhelming, as are the opportunities. At stake are
the fortunes of companies and the viability of nations.
DEVELOPING APPLICATIONS WITH REUSABLE OBJECTS
Hardware technology is coming at us so fast that one thing's
for sure: Software will have a hard time keeping up if we
develop it like we have in the past. Fortunately, the
industry is moving to the use of reusable and
interchangeable objects (e.g. object-oriented programming),
much like interchangeable parts for cars. Objects can
represent program segments (such as a video player), data
files (the compressed video), or hardware devices (e.g. a
wall switch). You can combine objects to make new objects
to perform specific services, such as downloading various
pieces of information from Prodigy each morning and
presenting it in the format you like, or making it available
for programmed tasks (e.g. water the lawn at 4:00 AM if it
is dry and no rain is predicted).
We'll soon see tools that make it easy for many PC users to
create their own applications, simply by dragging objects
around on the screen and connecting them. You'll be able to
combine your favorite word processor object and favorite
spell checker (from different vendors and written in
different computer languages). You'll then select a
graphics conversion utility and a drawing tool and a
business graphics engine that can be linked to a
spreadsheet. With access to hundreds of fonts and clip art
from several types of libraries, you put your presentation
together to be shown with a presentation tool from even
another vendor. It all snaps together seemlessly and you
have made your customized version of -- Lotus Freelance.
Lotus and WordPerfect and others will sell class libraries
of reusable objects so you can pick and choose. You'll be
able to access objects that are stored on your own system or
ones that are stored on some remote system on a different
kind of computer.
IBM has a powerful, open, distributed object strategy for
the future and a defined platform in OS/2 for object
exploitation today with the Workplace Shell, System Object
Module (SOM) and Distributed SOM (DSOM). Our technology is
being developed with partners like Apple, HP and Sun, is
being shared with standards bodies, and is consistent with
CORBA of OMG (Common Object Request Broker Architecture,
endorsed by the Object Management Group).
----------------
10 "Smart Houses: Getting Switched On," Business Week, June
28, 1993, p.128.
============================================================
HAPPY HOME COMPUTING REQUIREMENTS
This section describes how to implement the dream with the
least effort. IBM's vision of the future of home computing
isn't that much different from that of a dozen other
companies. What is different is how it takes you from
today's realities to tomorrow's promise. OS/2 is a key part
of IBM's software plan for delivering that promise. It
improves the quality of the journey by eliminating many of
the pains, migrations, upgrades, and relearning that you
might otherwise expect.
MULTITASKING
Because users should not have to turn off their fax and
voicemail applications or shut down their security system in
order to write a letter, this is the #1 requirement for the
Vision portrayed here. OS/2 offers fast and safe
multitasking so you don't have to wait on your computer and
so you can make these visions become real.
COMPATIBILITY WITH YOUR PC HARDWARE AND APPLICATIONS
Because people don't like too much change, however, any new
operating system must be compatible with existing hardware
and applications. For this reason, IBM has tested OS/2 on
hundreds of 32-bit IBM-compatible computers and offers a
money-back guarantee if it won't run on yours, given enough
memory and disk. OS/2 comes with more than 260 printer
device drivers for all of the leading printers. It supports
all of the most popular CD-ROM drives and their associated
SCSI adapters. Leading audio/sound adapters are also
supported.(11)
OS/2 excels in application compatibility too, with its
ability to run virtually any DOS or Windows or OS/2
application. It also has a strong evolutionary future that
lets you expand your system without constant upgrades to
application software.
EASE OF LEARNING AND USE
The user interface must be intuitive and easy to use,
because the biggest barrier to wide-spread use of personal
computers has been the effort to learn and apply the
technology. We've come a long way since the DOS prompt
(C:>), with graphical user interfaces. OS/2 goes further
still and sets new standards for ease of learning and use,
with its object-oriented user interface. Objects on the
OS/2 desktop (folders, files, printers, disk drives, etc.)
act just like everyday objects. To print a file, just drag
it over to the printer; to put it away, drag it into a
folder; to delete it, drag it to the shredder. OS/2 users
LOVE OS/2!
"I find this system so convenient and uncomplicated to
use that most of my time is spent fighting my SEVEN
YEAR OLD son for control of my computer. I feel that
IBM has once again proven that it is not only the front
runner of microcomputer technology, but also the trail
blazer of times to come!" DONALD K. CHAMPINE, SECURITY
PACIFIC AUTOMATION COMPANY, INC. IN SEATTLE, WA.
EASE OF INSTALLATION
New system software should also be easy to install with
minimal training. Ideally there would be no training
required for family members, and OS/2 lives up to that
ideal. It is important, however, to have someone technical
enough to take charge of installing and setting up the
system for other family members. When installing OS/2 for
the first time, some have described the experience like that
of moving into a new house. "There are always a few things
that take a while to find, but the pain of moving is soon
forgotten and well worth the benefit."
OS/2 2.1 ships on over 20 diskettes (or on CD-ROM), and no
matter what IBM does, this still seems overwhelming to many
potential users. IBM is evaluating various options for
turn-key packages for the home markets, recognizing that
delivering the Vision of this paper requires more computer
skill than we'd like.
Currently, the easiest way to install OS/2 is to buy a
system that has it pre-installed. If you are buying from a
retail store today, the systems you'll find with OS/2
pre-installed may be IBM systems, but we are now seeing more
PC manufacturers willing to pre-install OS/2 upon request
and hope to see this as a standard practice in the future.
LEAVING YOUR PC UP AND RUNNING
Rather than turning on your PC, running your application,
and turning it off, you might decide to just keep it on with
your favorite applications already started and running.
This is especially attractive when running a sophisticated
system like OS/2 (or DOS with Windows and lots of other
extensions) because of the time to boot up.
CHOOSING THE LOCATION OF YOUR PC
Where you put your computer depends on its intended use and
users. Because 75% of PC-owning households are work-at-home
households, many people put their PC in a home-office. That
can be a spare room, a corner of a room, or even a large
closet. A home-office can provide privacy and a way to hide
office clutter while protecting equipment and work in
process. And when company calls, just close the door. This
works especially well if you are the only person who will
use the system and may be required if you want to take an
income tax deduction for home-office expenses.
If, however, you put your system out in the open (e.g. den
or kitchen)(12) and leave it always powered on and ready to
use, you should find new uses... and new users -- the whole
family. This is ideal if your objective is kids education,
family entertainment, managing health and finances, or home
automation.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT HARDWARE
SIZE -- One way to save space and avoid conflicts with home
decor is with the new notebook PCs. They can also be moved
into a quiet room for privacy, possibly eliminating the need
for a dedicated home-office. Besides being portable, they
are smaller, quieter, and consume less power than desktop
PCs; and they have suspend/resume features. Rather than
close your OS/2 applications and turn off the power, you can
simply close the cover of the notebook, putting the system
into "suspend mode" and saving energy. Opening the cover
brings the system back to life with all of your applications
loaded and running, just like you left them. Newer desktop
PCs may have similar suspend/resume features that cause them
to use less power during periods of inactivity and "wake up"
when input is sensed (from keyboard, mouse, fax, etc).
Many people will choose desktop PCs instead of notebook PCs
because of larger hard disks, more expansion slots or lower
cost (especially when fitted with a color monitor). Some
will choose to have both and may even want them to
communicate in a network.
MEMORY & DISK -- OS/2 offers a lot of power and function but
does require more memory and disk than native DOS. OS/2 can
support simple DOS applications with as little as 4
megabytes (MB) of memory, but Windows users will be more
satisfied with 8MB or more. And OS/2 needs 15 to 40 MB(13)
of available disk space for all of its function, on-line
documentation, built-in applications, and scalable type
fonts. Almost all systems sold today are already OS/2
capable, and some have OS/2 pre-loaded.
"I was reluctant to move to OS/2 2.0, but now I can't
imagine using anything else. If you have the horses,
you're crazy not to try it, folks, no matter what they
say. It takes 55 minutes to install, and if your
hardware can handle it, the software is rock solid,
just like the OS/2 nutballs say it is... It's not
particularly fun to tell these guys that they were
right." JOHN C. DVORAK, PC MAGAZINE, AUGUST 1992.
PROCESSOR -- By "horses," John Dvorak is referring to memory
and disk storage, as OS/2 doesn't have the voracious
appetite for processor speed that Windows has, thanks to
genuine preemptive multithreading. Processor speed is less
of an issue when you don't have to wait for one application
to complete before moving on to the next and when background
applications don't interfere with the useability of
foreground applications as they do with Windows. While some
people always want the fastest computer they can buy, others
believe that because of OS/2, the muscle computer could go
the way of the muscle car.
"Today it's not important how well your automobile runs
at 120 MPH, but how well it does at 55. OS/2 will
allow productivity to be measured in multitasking
versatility, not sheer velocity." EDWIN BLACK, OS/2
PROFESSIONAL, NOVEMBER 1992.
SUPPORT -- When users run their home-office or entire home
on a PC, support can become critical and vendor reputation
deserves strong consideration. Now you can buy PCs from IBM
and Apple at Sears instead of Zeos and Gateway through the
mail.
BACKUP AND RECOVERY
Your PC is likely the most important piece of equipment in
your home-office, so take care of it and backup your system
faithfully. Neglecting this important rule is common with
DOS and Windows users, because when backup is running
nothing else does. With OS/2 it is easier. As expected,
OS/2 comes with backup and restore utilities. They can be
used to backup parts of your system while you work actively
on other parts. Or you can choose add-on products that make
backup even easier and support a wide variety of devices,
such as diskette, 4mm Digital Audio Tape, 8mm tape, and 3.5"
rewritable optical disks.(14)
DON'T FORGET INSURANCE
Another way of protecting yourself and your home-based
business is with insurance. Homeowner and renter policies
can cover your computer equipment and software for a modest
additional premium. They are often limited to $5,000 or
$10,000 which should be enough for most home offices but may
may not be enough for a sophisticated one, including its
software. In any case, check with your insurance company.
PREPARING FOR SCHEDULING CONFLICTS
You can encourage PC use and increase PC benefits by
matching convenience with the excitement and power of OS/2.
Even small families, however, should prepare for scheduling
conflicts as described by OS/2 users. They say it's like a
late model sports car with an innovative new body on a
racing chassis and with an awesome new turbo-charged engine.
As such, it surpasses the popular windowing systems such as
Microsoft Windows that simply put a new body over DOS's
Volkswagen engine. When you get familiar with working with
OS/2 and past the "ah-ha" stage, you too will find that OS/2
is a dream to drive. And just like the conflict when your
son wants to borrow your car but you need it to run errands,
expect scheduling conflicts with your PC. You may need to
plan your home-office time so it doesn't conflict with
school and entertainment time (or even include a second PC
in a network for your kids and spouse).
"I write to you now as a last resort. You see, I have
lost my boyfriend to OS/2. For the last two weeks he
as been locked in the computer room as if he was a mad
scientist on the verge of a momentous discovery. I
knock, I pound, I whimper into the keyhole, I slide
notes under the door; and to no avail... I could hear
him cackling with glee and often I heard awe in his
voice that sounded as if he were witnessing the second
coming... I must go in after him. Clearly this man of
mine cannot help himself. The temptation of OS/2 is
too great. He is hooked and I am the only chance he
has left... If you can't beat em, join em!" L.
CHRISTIAN CANDELMIRE, UNIVERSITY OF CA AT BERKELEY.
----------------
11 Kevin Maier, "What's New in OS/2 2.1," Personal Software
Technical Newsletter, Issue 1 1993, p.3.
12 A computer for the den or breakfast room, however,
should be small, quiet, and fit into the room's decor.
And a computer used for home automation to save energy
should itself be energy efficient. IBM's new PS/2E is
an example of the first "Green PCs" to ship this summer.
It consumes just 23 watts of peak power and 16 watts in
suspend mode (vs 180 watts for the average PC), so it
needs no noisy cooling fan. It comes with a 10.4" flat
color display (active matrix LCD, 256 color VGA) and can
operate vertically in a book shelf or be hung on the
wall. And it's made of recyclable materials.
13 Two products have been announced that support
"on-the-fly" disk compression. STACKER 2.0 (by Stac
Electronics) is available now, and DCF/2 (Disk
Compression Facility for OS/2, by Proportional Software)
will be available in the second half of 1993. Disk
compression of up to 50% is possible. This means that
OS/2 might take just 8-20MB, and all other applications
and files would be compressed as well. The difference
between the two packages is that Stacker compresses the
entire disk partition (easiest), while DCF/2 lets you
tune performance by choosing what is compressed
(fastest, but slightly more complex). Stacker was
designed for DOS and is being ported to OS/2, while
DCF/2 was designed for OS/2 and supports both FAT and
HPFS file systems.
14 Sytos Plus, by Sytron Corporation, is a complete OS/2
backup soluiton capable of handling HPFS files, long
pathnames up to 260 characters and Exteneded Attributes
of OS/2 files. A companion product, Sytos Rebound,
extends recovery even further. To find out more, call
1-800-3IBM-OS2 (1-800-465-7999 in Canada).
============================================================
WHO WORKS AT HOME?
When the bureaucracy of a large company makes it difficult
to buy new software or when users don't have time to
experiment, the home PC takes on a new and hidden role -- as
a place to learn new computer skills and to try out new
software applications. Even though IBM's heritage has been
solving the business computing needs of large corporations,
there is a need to understand the interests and motivations
of the home worker. This is partially because user opinions
and preferences that affect corporate standards often start
at home. But interest in this market isn't just limited to
its affect on large corporations. Its an exciting and
growing market where IBM can apply leadership technologies.
The following is from the 7th survey of 2,500 households
done by Link Resources.(15) It covers the work-at-home
market segment but ignores other home uses of PCs.
THE NEW ENTREPRENEUR (12.1 M individuals in 9.6 M
households) -- These self-employed, full-time workers depend
on the business they run out of their home for their primary
income. For this reason, they tend to spend more on home
PCs, fax machines and telephone services than do
moonlighters and corporate homeworkers. Owning the right
home-office equipment is important, and if they believe OS/2
or any other new product will help bring in more cash,
they'll buy.
A subset of New Entrepreneur is the person who's home-based
business is fulfilling a life long dream. Because making
money is relatively unimportant to them, they tend to buy
equipment impulsively with little regard to its financial
justification.
THE CONTRIBUTOR (11.7 M individuals in 9.2 M households) --
This segment includes people who are part-time
self-employed, who are moonlighting, or who do freelance
work. They contribute to family income and increase in
numbers during hard economic times in order to help make
ends meet. With less earning power than New Entrepreneurs,
Contributors tend to buy more portable PCs, but they invest
more cautiously.
THE CORPORATE EAGER BEAVER (8.4 M households) -- These days,
many corporate employees bring work home from the office in
the evenings or on weekends so they can compete with their
peers while spending more time with their family. Link
Resources reports that 54% of them have a PC at home, but
since they also have access to equipment at the office, they
tend to buy only the essentials for home. Although some
corporations help Eager Beavers fund equipment purchases,
most are on their own.
A subset of Corporate Eager Beavers are principals and
senior executives with large corporations. Financially well
off, they occasionally work from home rather than in the
office for reasons of convenience, productivity and life
style. Although spending levels may vary by industry, PCs
and advanced communications are essential.
THE TELECOMMUTER (6.6 M individuals in 4.9 M households) --
More and more companies are allowing employees to work out
of the home at least 1 day a week. This cuts down on travel
time, improves productivity by eliminating office
distractions, and lets the company keep valuable employees
(such as new mothers) who might otherwise quit. By
supporting telecommuting, companies may also have access to
a larger skill base, because they aren't limited by
geography. They often save on expensive real estate costs
and can support a larger customer base with fewer offices.
With a strong need to stay in touch with the company office
and customers, communications is extremely important.
THE CASUAL HOMEWORKER (77.3 M individuals in 48.7 M
households) -- This larger group brings work home only
occasionally. Because their interest in a home PC is driven
by motivations other than work (such as kids education or
family finance), they are not included in most of the
analysis of the Link Resources study.
----------------
15 Thomas E. Miller, "Home Office Overview," Report #01358,
Link Resources Corp. (a New York based research and
consulting firm), March 1993.
============================================================
OTHER INTERESTING HOMEWORKER STATISTICS --
o 39.0 M Americans (out of 124.5 M USA worker population)
work at home part time or full time, rising to 49 M in
1996.
- primary self-employed (12.1M)
- part-time self-employed (11.7M, e.g. moonlighting)
- corporate after-hours (8.4M, e.g. bring work
home)
- company telecommuter (6.6M, e.g. formal
arrangement with employer)
o 75% of PC-owning households are "work-at-home"
households, going to 80-85% by 1995. This has major
implications for applications & packaging.
o Home PC demand will likely be driven by:
- Government incentives or requirements favoring
telecommuting
- Corporate downsizing creating new opportunities
for small business
- Baby boom workforce demographics reaching prime
work-at-home age (35-54)
- Economic pressures to supplement income through
moonlighting
- Family time pressures on dual-income families
- Desire for more flexibility and control of family
and work life
- Continued ease-of-use improvements & increasing
computer literacy
- Increases in portable computing and wireless
communications
- Price/performance curve (e.g. low cost 486 systems
vs expensive people)
This will drive demand for more PC households and
more PCs per household.
o Many small businesses start in the home, and paradigms
start here.
- 20% of businesses located in office or industr ial
areas started in the home, including such well
known companies as Apple, Dell, and Ford.
- 56% of ALL US businesses have less than 5
employees!!! (3.6 M)
- 20% have 6-9 employees (1.3 M)
- 25% have 10-100 employees (.8 M)
- .01% have > 1000 employees (.006 M)
o 1st time buyer motives:
70.2% for business work-at-home. They need
"application suites"
38.5% for home finance/budgeting/taxes
33.7% for children's education, with increasing need
for multimedia
17.3% to learn more about computers
13.5% because of improved price/performance
11.5% because it's important to have a PC at home
Satisfying these demands requires bundled,
plug-n-play solutions (e.g. IBM PS/1, Mwave,
CD-ROM, and OS/2 apps).
o 2nd time buyer motives:
43.9% out-growing current system capabilities
36.4% improved price/performance
Satisfying these demands requires compatibility with
current applications, devices & skills.
o Many experts say $1000 is the key price point, but
- 1989 average home PC = $1550
- 1992 average home PC = $1875, plus $962 for
peripherals and $416 for software ($3253 total).
- PC spending increases with time spent working at
home
- $12.3 Billion market for home-office PCs, up 27%
from $9.7 Billion in 1991.
This discounts other home PC use.
o Home information products now comprise 25% of ALL
consumer electronics.
o 28% PC penetration (in '92), going to 32% (in '95)
o 55% penetration for incomes > $100K (only about 4M
households), but interest in PCs is increasing for lower
incomes ($30-100K).
o 62.2% of home-office users run DOS applications.
o 28.3% of home-office users run Windows applications, up
from 25.1% in 1991. 83.2% of Windows users said they
actually use it.
o 4.0 M households have either a standalone or PC fax
device, up 82% from 2.2 M in 1991.
============================================================
TECHNICAL TIPS FOR OS/2 USERS AT HOME
I started my son, Adrian, with Early Games by SpringBoard
Software when he was 2 years old. I made a cardboard
template to cover all but the numeric keys. First topic:
recognize shapes (6 vs 9, 3 vs 8, 1 vs 7) and names (I'd
pronounce each new number when it appeared). Next:
recognize values (9 is larger than 6) by counting the number
of blocks and choosing the corresponding key. Adrian is now
9 and is an OS/2 user.
Most agree that OS/2 sets new levels in ease of learning and
use (especially for kids) and is fairly forgiving. It is
still wise, however, to have someone set up the system for
the rest of the family. Here are some tips that I've
learned from experience and from talking to others:
o Small children make wrong choices on purpose (to see
what happens), like holding down the keys until the
keyboard buffer fills and the system beeps endlessly.
They aren't intimidated by computers.
o Watch out for miscellaneous objects inserted into the
diskette drives. Watching me insert diskettes, my son
inserted keys, coins, candy, and other objects. Assume
that he'll try to do anything he watches you do. The
diskette problem went away with parental guidance and
computer literacy (age 3-4 in my case).
o Get rid of the shredder. Put it in the "Dad" folder or
delete it completely. You don't need it anyway since
the right-mouse-button menu includes a "delete"
function.
o Hide things in the OS/2 System Folder that you don't
want the rest of the family using, such as Shredder,
Templates, and other items the install process puts on
the desktop for you. It gets them out of the way and
makes the desktop cleaner.
o Set-up all the folders for the kids and spouse with
shadows of the program objects. This way even if they
delete the shadow object, they won't delete the
original.
o Have the system come up with the GAMES folder open and
set it up with icons that children know. I "window" the
DOS session long enough to "cut" out a representative
graphics and "paste" into the icon editor.
o Make unique folders for each child with attractive icons
that let them know that this is the part of the computer
they are allowed and encouraged to use. Put the icons
in an obvious place, and make the resulting folder large
enough to cover most of the desktop.
o Teach your child how to "shut down" and scold him when
he forgets. Some have even made a "turn off the
computer" icon. At risk is that some of your system
changes may not be saved or that disk output may not
have completed yet. Shutting down is most important for
users who've chosen the High Performance File System
(HPFS), but it's not that big of a deal to wait while
recovering the Swap file if young ones do forget, but
they quickly learn the rule.
Chuck Brazie agrees that shutting down is not a problem.
"My 4 year old likes Reader Rabbit, Mixed up Fairy
Tales, the puzzle applet, and even playing with Corel
Draw. She can shutdown the system like a champ, and she
waits for the 'little box to turn into the big box'
before powering off. The 10 year old likes Operation
Neptune, the Carmen San Diego Series, Mario Teaches
Typing, Oregon Trail, Mahjong, and even experiments with
Basic and Rexx programs."
o Protect your .INI files. Gene Fine warns that OS/2's
ease of use can cause curious side effects. "My
daughter gets a blast out of bringing up the scheme
palette, with the help of my son, and changing the
colors to those of her likings. One night I booted a
screen with Barbie colors (yuk!), a pink background, and
other changes." This can be avoided by maintaining and
restoring backup copies of .INI files. (e.g. add XCOPY
of .INI files in STARTUP.CMD). There are also free
utilities available on dial-up bulletin boards that
protect against any change in the workplace shell.
o Pat Hammond uses multiple icons and folders to encourage
shared use. "One of the games that our 6 year old
really likes is one of the coloring programs. I have
set it up so two players can take turns. All it takes
is Alt-Esc to switch between sessions. I'm not sure if
she can set this up by herself or not, but once it is up
she can handle the switching. I have separate
directories for each child's pictures and separate
program icons that point to each directory."
o One of the really nice things that can be done with OS/2
is setting up associations, special links between
program objects and data-file objects. For example, you
can link the program object for a spreadsheet to every
spreadsheet object. Associations can be made by file
type or by file name (including wildcards). You can set
up *.PCW for PC Write and *.WKS for spreadsheets. Now
all the user has to do is double click on the data file,
and the system opens the program with data file already
loaded -- true object oriented.
Each family member can have a folder with private data
files and won't have to worry about what command or path
is needed to start an application. To work on a letter
file, simply double click on the document. To work on a
spreadsheet, double click. Similarly, *.X10 can be used
for appliance controllers to let you "click" a lamp on
or off.
o From Ray Dixon: "The AUTOSTART statement will allow you
to prevent things from being automatically restarted at
boot time. Say your son had about 10 games going under
DOS full screens, and he didn't exit them before doing a
shutdown. When you reboot, if AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS is
set, then all 10 copies will be restarted. You may not
want that, as it can cause your boot time to seem
longer. To prevent this, remove the PROGRAMS from the
AUTOSTART statement in CONFIG.SYS."
SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS
OS/2 has the power and flexibility to work like you do, so
you'll likely discover your own setup preferences. If you
discover some interesting tips of your own, please forward
them to the author.
============================================================
CAN'T MICROSOFT WINDOWS DO THAT?
Yes. And No. Windows 3.1 can likely do any one of the
applications described in this guide, but it has difficulty
doing several at the same time.
o WORD PROCESSING: Long running tasks can interfere with
keyboarding, making text entry painfully slow. Examples
include distributing a fax, formatting a diskette,
backing up your system, down-loading a file from a BBS,
or simply printing. While performing any of these
tasks, delays in Windows multitasking can cause
characters to display several seconds after you enter
them, if at all. The user interface becomes completely
unresponsive and you give up and decide to go out for
dinner. With OS/2, you can have many active tasks
running, and the user interface still responds like like
a champ. You keep on typing and admire your
productivity improvement.
o SPREADSHEETS: Your PC-attached CD-ROM drive is playing
stereo music through the sound card of your PC when you
start up an Excel macro. You wonder why the sound stops
(and starts, and stops again...). It's because Windows
does a poor job of multitasking compared to OS/2. With
OS/2, you could have several audio sources piped through
the same or multiple sound cards while other tasks are
running and the music never skips a beat.
o GAMES: Your 12 year old son is playing Space Quest V, a
DOS game with impressive graphics, animation, and
digital sound. The phone rings and it's an in-coming
fax. While receiving the fax, the responsiveness of the
game goes down the toilet and your son hasn't a clue
why. He starts messing around with system settings but
even finds that difficult and slow, so he re-boots the
system. So much for your fax.
o GENERAL PROTECTION FAULT: You've been working for hours
on a document, spreadsheet, or presentation with
graphics when you start another task and get the famous
"General Protection Fault." The Windows memory
protection feature warns you that a program erroneously
accessed memory outside of its own address space, but
this time it doesn't give you the advertised option of
closing that one application because some system control
blocks were changed. The system is locked up now, and
your only option is to re-boot without the ability to
save your work. It has been reported that Windows users
tend to get used to re-booting and losing data, but OS/2
users often run for weeks or months without even
shutting down. OS/2's "crash protection" is an
advantage for both home and enterprise environments.
As a DOS-extender, Windows 3.1 adds some amazing new
function to the 13-year old DOS that it relies on for input,
output and other system functions. OS/2, on the other hand,
is a replacement for DOS (and Windows). OS/2 was designed
for today's multitasking environments and provides its own
system services. It generally runs Windows applications as
fast or faster than Windows does and runs them with better
safety. Unlike Windows 3.1 or Windows NT, OS/2 lets Windows
users run Standard Mode and Enhanced Mode applications
concurrently, taking the full screen or participating
seemlessly with other windowed applications on the desktop,
and running in a separate session for maximum protection or
with other Windows applications in a single session to
conserve system resources. Running DOS or Windows
applications under OS/2 has many other advantages over
running them in their native environments. Most of those
benefits won't be discussed in this paper, however, except
to contrast with what Windows did to extend DOS.
o MEMORY MANAGER: Windows provides a memory manager
function so DOS applications can access more than 640 K
of memory. OS/2, on the other hand, doesn't have to
contend with the out-dated memory schemes found in DOS,
which requires that programs be written in 64 KB
segments (the register size of early Intel processors).
OS/2 improves support for DOS applications with up to 32
MB of EMS/XMS memory and 512 MB of DPMI memory per
___
application. And OS/2 applications are free of page
segments with the ability to address memory contiguously
and the ability to use 32-bit instructions to exploit
your 32-bit hardware.
o GRAPHICAL PROGRAM LAUNCHER: Windows adds a graphical
user interface (GUI) to DOS, but OS/2 advances the user
interface a generation beyond the GUI found in Windows
3.1 or Windows NT. OS/2 has an object-oriented
interface, the WorkPlace Shell, where each icon on the
"desktop" represents an object (printer, disk drive,
program, folder, file, etc). The metaphor is more
life-like and new users find it much easier to learn.
Even experienced Windows users find OS/2 easier to use,
because most operations can be completed with one mouse
click. To print a document, simply drag to the printer
instead of (in Windows) opening the program manager,
then the word processor, then selecting File and
Directory and File Name just to open the document and
finally selecting Print and Print Location to finish the
printing task. (And don't forget to close the word
processor.)
o WINDOWING TASK SELECTOR: Windows 3.1 lets users switch
back and forth between running applications, even
between DOS and Windows applications, that appear in
overlapping windows. It also includes ways of
exchanging information, with Cut & Paste, DDE, and OLE.
But multitasking under Windows is limited because it
sits on DOS, which was never designed to run more than
one thing at a time. DOS suffers from a single I/O
buffer that forces all I/O operations to be serialized
(one at a time), and since Windows relies on DOS for its
I/O, Windows suffers too. OS/2 on the other hand was
designed specifically to support preemptive
multitasking. This allows applications to better share
system resources and all run at the same time. OS/2 can
also support several overlapped I/O operations due to
multiple, shared I/O buffers.
WHAT ARE YOUR GROWTH OPTIONS?
There is one last issue with Windows, and that's where do
you go from here? Microsoft is already talking about
Chicago (a code name for Windows 4.0), which is not expected
until sometime in 1994. Chicago hopes to solve some of the
problems Windows users have today by by-passing DOS
completely and doing its own I/O and by adding support for
32-bit applications. To exploit Chicago, you will likely
have to upgrade all of your Windows applications again, as
you've done in the past going from one release to another.
With OS/2, you can run your 16-bit DOS and Windows
applications and add new 32-bit applications when you are
ready. As in the past, when moving to new OS/2 releases,
your old applications should still run fine because of IBM's
long-term commitment to protecting customer investments in
hardware, system software, and applications.
============================================================
OS/2 AWARDS
Over 2 million copies of OS/2 2.0 were sold in its first 9
months, and OS/2 continues to garner international acclaim
from the computer industry's leading publications and
delighted end users.
Since November, 1992, IBM OS/2 2.0 has won 15 awards from
the computer industry's leading U.S trade publications -- PC
Magazine, PC Computing, PC World, Information Week, and
Corporate Computing -- honoring OS/2 in categories such as
technical excellence, most promising new product and best
operating system/environment. Specific honors and awards
presented to IBM OS/2 2.0 include:
o PC Magazine - December 22, 1992
"Technical Excellence" Award Winner, "Operating Systems
and Software Standards"
o InformationWeek - December 22, 1992
"1992 Top Products -- The 10 Most Likely to Succeed"
o PC Week -- December 28, 1992
"Top Products of '92"
o PC World - December 1992
"PC Industry Achievement" Award for "Most Promising
Newcomer, Software"
o PC/Computing -- December 1992
"Most Valuable Product" (MVP) Award for "Operating
System/Environment"
o Corporate Computing -- January 1993
"Best Buy for 1993"
o PC Magazine (Italy) -- February 3, 1993
"PC Technology" Award
o Software noviny (Czechia) -- February, 1993
"Product of the Year 1992"
o Datamation -- February 15, 1993
"Product of the Year," PC Software category
o Computer Language -- February 23, 1993
"Jolt Cola" Award for "Product Excellence 1992"
o PC Magazine (Spain) -- March 1993
"Product of the Year"
o InfoWorld -- April 26, 1993
"Software Product of the Year"
o InfoWorld -- April 26, 1993
"Overall Product of the Year"(16) (see below)
o Soft et Micro (France) -- April 1993
"1993 Must-Have"
o Ziff-Davis (Europe) -- 7 June 1993
"Software Excellence Award", "Environment and Desktop"
category
----------------
16 The most important thing regarding this award is that it
comes from the readers and users, not just the decision
of a publisher or committee.
============================================================
INFORMATION SOURCES
o TELEPHONE: You can get more information on OS/2 by
calling IBM at 1-800-3IBM-OS2 for a free demo diskette
or to order your copy of OS/2. They can also refer you
to a local PC dealer equipped to give you a
demonstration.
o WHERE TO FIND OS/2 APPLICATIONS: The "OS/2 Applications
Solutions Directory," lists thousands of OS/2
applications from independent software vendors. To
order your copy, call 800-READ-OS2.
o FOR INDEPENDENT VENDORS PROVIDING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
THAT SUPPORT OS/2: To order "The I.V. League" catalog,
call 800-342-6672.
o IBM COURSEWARE AND EDUCATION: Skill Dynamics, an IBM
Company, call 800-IBM-TEACh, ext.137.
o FAX: Call 800-IBM-4FAX and request an index of
documents. Use your touch-tone phone to request by
document number.
o BOOKS & MAGAZINES: Over 35 OS/2 books are in print,
with three of the top-10 computer books being on OS/2.
They range from a paperback-sized "10 Minute Guide to
OS/2 2.1" to the larger "OS/2 2.1 Unleashed," which is
over 1,000 pages.
- "OS/2 Professional" magazine, by I.F.Computer Media,
call 301-770-4OS2 to subscribe.
- "OS/2 Monthly" magazine, by JDF Publishing, call
800-365-2642 to subscribe.
- "OS/2 Computing" magazine, by Miller Freeman, Inc.,
call 415-905-2200 to subscribe.
- "OS/2 Developer" magazine, by IBM, call 800-WANT-OS2
to subscribe.
o ON-LINE INFORMATION: On-line documentation contained
within OS/2 2.1 is so extensive that, even compressed,
it takes up 2.5 megabytes of your hard disk. If it were
printed, it would be over 2,000 pages. With such a vast
library of information available, IBM has taken great
pains to make it easy to access and navigate through.
Helps are context-sensitive, and often contain
hyper-links to more detail if needed.
This is just a small subset of the many sources of
information on OS/2.
ORDERING INFORMATION
The suggested retail price of OS/2 is $249, including all of
the functions of DOS and Windows and more. During a
promotional period (which ends September 15, 1993), however,
existing DOS users can upgrade for just $99 (CD-ROM version)
or $119 (diskette version). OS/2 users can send in a rebate
coupon worth $30, getting the price down as low as $69!
To order your copy today and participate in the promotional
pricing, call IBM at 1-800-3IBM-OS2.
============================================================
TRADEMARKS:
IBM, OS/2, WorkPlace Shell, Crash Protection, Skill
Dynamics, Multimedia Presentation Manager/2, MMPM/2, Mwave,
WindSurfer, DataFax, PhoneFX, SOM, DSOM, PS/1, PS/2, PS/2E,
PowerPC, PS/2 TV, SNA, and Rexx are trademarks or registered
trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.
Adobe Type Manager is a trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc.
America Online is a registered service mark of America
Online, Inc.
BitFax is a trademark of Bit Software, Inc.
CompuServe is a registered trademark of the CompuServe
Corporation.
DCF/2 is a trademark of Proportional Software.
DeScribe is a registered trademark of DeScribe, Inc.
FaxForward is a trademark of Computer Systems Integration,
Inc.
Fax/PM is a trademark of Microformatic USA.
Lotus 1-2-3 and Freelance are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Lotus Development Corp.
Home Office is a trademark of Prometheus Products.
Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Windows 3.1, Windows NT,
Microsoft Money, Excel, OLE and Cairo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Open+Fax is a trademark of Open+Voice, Inc.
PFS: Works is a trademark of Spinnaker Software Corp.
Photo CD is a trademark of Eastman Kodak Company.
PMfax is a trademark of Keller Group, Inc.
Prodigy is a trademark of PRODIGY Services Company, Inc.
Quicken is a trademark of Intuit Corporation.
Stacker is a trademark of STACK Electronics Inc.
Sytos Plus and Sytos Rebound are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Sytron Corporation.
WinFax is a trademark of Delrina Technology.
WordPerfect is a registered trademark of WordPerfect
Corporation.
486 and Pentium are trademarks of Intel Corporation.