 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Guest Editorial John Wilkins |
Well, the PC Show has come and gone for another year. The Group's stand was a success, as the articles inside attest, with many new members and some quite funny comments overheard. There were few surprises on show; System/2 was there, or at least the entry models were, a lot of desktop publishing stands showing what we have all seen, and some very interesting comms stuff, mainly in the voice transmission field. One thing that stood out was the number of Australian software and OEM stands. This is a good sign - but little of it was innovative, and less still not derivative. Even one Australian company manufacturing laser printers Impact Systems-was showing equipment made from overseas parts, which is to be expected to some degree given the complexity of the product. At least they weren't just copying other countries' designs, but designing their own, and competing on price, too.
This edition was to have been a feature on Australian computer products, but only two items turned up: one is the FTL Modula-2 compiler, written by David Moore in Queensland, and marketed by JED Micro processors in Boronia. David's Modula-2 for CP/M was reviewed very favourably by Jerry Pournelle in Byte and Pournelle's son Alex has had a hand in the documentation for the PC version. It is being distributed in the U.S. and apparently doing well.
Another article is from Information Unlimited, who market a set of Accounting Packages under the title of Information Business Manager. These two articles have been written by the companies themselves, so caveat. Nevertheless, it is good to hear of Australian products.
I am not supplanting our inestimable editor David Jitts, who is in the middle of renovations (to his house!), but rather acting as a stand-in. He'll be back with all the rumour and gossip next issue. This edition is a bit of an experiment, though. If you like the result, or hate it, or have some constructive suggestions, let David know.
Reprinted from the July 1987 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
