Word: users
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...grim kind of camaraderie is evident among owners of orphaned computers. Those who cannot afford to scrap their machines or donate them to schools as tax deductions often turn to fellow users for comfort and support. As a result, hundreds of orphan-user groups have sprung up across the U.S., holding meetings in company cafeterias, community centers, classrooms and dens. Members swap tips on software, sources for ever scarcer accessories, and techniques for getting the most out of their discontinued machines...
...varying electrical current that can be represented by a wave with a characteristic set of peaks and troughs. This wave form (see diagram) is converted into a template, a pattern of zeros and ones that the computer can digest and store. By prerecording a number of key words, a user can build up a library of digital templates, each corresponding to a particular computer instruction. Then, whenever he utters a command, the computer compares the incoming pattern with the templates stored in its memory. When it finds a pattern that matches its master's voice, the machine executes the proper...
...decision: How high are local property taxes? What are the prevailing wage rates? After supplying the relevant data for each alternative building site, the executive simply hits a button and lets the computer come up with a recommendation. Naturally, the last word does not rest with the machine. The user is free at any time to adjust the criteria and watch how those changes affect the proposed outcome. Thoughtware's Trigger ($495), another management assistant, helps an executive track his business's performance. Should sales, costs or inventory, for example, get too far out of line, the program warns...
...advent of the computerized library has also brought new problems. Computers have a way of making simple research tasks more difficult--for example, when a casual user needs computer instruction just to find a book. Even trained librarians say there is an art to performing an efficient data- base search; an awkwardly phrased query can quickly lead to information overload, generating hundreds of responses. At the same time, computers can be too efficient, eliminating what is called the serendipity factor. "The real joy of scholarly research is discovering something valuable in the process of looking for something else," says Arnold...
Cordless and snout-shaped, the Dustbuster is 14 1/4 in. long and weighs 1.4 lbs. To clean up small domestic disasters, the user grabs the Dustbuster from its wall rack, vacuums up the mess and returns the machine to its base. There, its three nickel-cadmium batteries are recharged so that it will be ready for the next spill. Life expectancy: 150 hours, or five years of 15-to-20-second bursts...