8,732
edits
Changes
→Programmer portraits: What have these six men got in common? A TI, for one thing.
The decision to become a program mer came after experience using a computer for most of those interviewed.
For K.E. Vaughn of Vaughn Software in Arvada, Colorado, after he bought a computer and found out he was "pretty good at it," he decided he would rather sit at a computer than try a business trade."
He says that a field in which it is possible to see the results immediately and apply creativity make programming satisfying.
thought I'd give it a try."
It's the best," Hughes says flatly.
"That's very true. Two-and-a-half
years ago I compared the specifications,
TI was clearly the best but too
expensive."
He says that when the TI made the
"big drop down to $500 that's when I
got it. It was such a bargain. The
primary reason I got it was I'm a programmer
and I wanted to do my own
programming.''
Hughes notes that TI BASIC is the
only home computer BASIC that
meets the American National Standards
Institute standards for minimal
BASIC. He also cited Tl's guarantee
and the company's "excellent reputation
for reliable hardware."
SHAKESPEARE
THE PROGRAMMER?
What is it like in this relatively new
field? Could there be, for instance, a
similarity between a struggling young
writer and a struggling young
programmer?
"You have to be creative in both
fields," Lannie pointed out, a view
which was often echoed.
Vaughn, however, points out that
''the process of programming versus
writing is different. With writing you
can be inexact.''
"Programs normally speak for
themselves in terms of quality,'' Swett
says. "Writing is more subjective."
However, he says, a similarity
arises in having to make "very small
strides on the way to establishing
credibility-estahlishing a business.''
"There's a lot of programmers out
there who are trying to get a good program
out like authors trying to get a
good book out," says Emory. "Every
once in a while one will come out with a
really good one and make it big."
"When you're writing a program,
more often than not you' re working
with an original idea. That's similar,"
Dollard says.
However, he says that writing a program
does not take as much time as
writing a book and that, "with only 16K
in the console,'' the programmer is
limited while "if you were writing a
book the possibilities are endless for
the information you could put in."
Harter sees "a lot of similarities. I
know because we also accept other
people's works and it's really similar.
People apply. to us all the time just like
a writer would go to a publisher. Sometimes
they're very good and I don't
know what to say because they're not
the kind of game we want to put out or
they're the kind of game we don't think
would sell very well for us. For me, it's
like self-publishing. It's like when
printing was first invented and a writer
could get in on the ground floor by
f o r m i n g h i s o w n p u b l i s h i n g
company."
Hughes says that writers and programmers
are the same kind of person
with "just slightly different skills."
For instance, "both create something
from nothing," and can take
pride in "elegant, fine-tuned work.
Both professions take self-discipline
also, he notes.
KINDS OF PROGRAMS
Some programmers specialize in
games, others in utilities or applications.
Being ''more into utility'' is
"mostly a personal decision" for
Vaughn.
''I was tired of watching sprites go
from here to there and yon," he says.
''With games the only thing you do is
exercise your joystick hand."
He also notes that at user group
meetings there is "a crowd in their
mid-30s. It's a more dedicated and
loyal user than with games. There's a
lot of game software on the market."
He notes that his products include an
Extended BASIC mailing list program
which can store up to 750 names on one
disk.
"I really think my talents lie in
serious applications," Swett says.
He says that with the Companion
word processing program, "we have a
splendid product, and we'll develop
auxiliary programs according· to
demand."
A filing routine is ''in the works,'' he
says.
"Games are limited," Harter says.
"I like the idea of utilities. Hobbyists
and people who are serious about
computers will buy utilities. If I want a
game, I'll make a game. I'll buy a utility.
The market is shrinking down to
the people who really like computers.
Games can be sold to an'yone at all, but
that market is going away."
Harter says Not-Polyoptics will be
"coming out soon with· a word
processor."
I'm not a game person," Hughes
says. "Nothing against those who are
game persons, but I personally am a
utilities man-I prefer to, call them,
not utilities, but useful programs, programs
to help me and .others use the
compute{ be.tter."
"That little TI with 16K has more
memory than the first IBM business
computer in 1958 that cost $200,000 and
took up a big room," he says. "Wheri I
saw they could make a little computer
as big as a telephone book do what a
big computer could do and people were
using it to play games, I thought 'what
a waste.' I think the general population
is realizing that computers can do
more than shoot down spaceships."
Game programmers, of course, look
at things differently.
Lannie says he "couldn't really
answer'' why he does games, but notes
that "when people send us other type
programs we send them back. We
won't even look at them."
Emory says that games are ''fun to
write, probably not as tedious as business
software. Of course, they don't
make enough money.''
Dollard says he writes "basically
just games" because "utility programs
pretty much exist already.
Word processing is already out there.''
He says he has written "a few little
routines to help myself at homenothing
special. There are times you
have to write a utility to help you with
math homework or something."
EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY
''When we started, I expected we
were going to have the Steve Wozniak
of software, but you can't become an
overnight millionaire," Vaughn says.
(Wozniak is the founder of Apple Computers).
"We found out the process
was slower. There are too many other
good programs out there."
Swett says he found ''sort of an inertia"
in his lifestyle as an academic. "I
wanted to see whether I was capable of
competing in the markelpface. I measure
the success of the business in
terms of whether it's profitable or
not-it isn't vet."
Lannie says going into programming
was "just a way to spend some
free time and be creative on my own.
You can say it's a form of expression."
His expectations have been fulfilled
"many times over," he says.
"At fitst I realiy didn't expect to
even sell programs," Emory says.
''Then I got some ideas and then I
started selling programs. It's sort of
like a hobby, almost."
Dollard says he merely signed up for
the high school computer course and
"expected nothing. I fell in love with it
and started trying to do everything I
could with it. I didn't expect anything,
because computers weren't a big thing
then. People had heard of computers,
but they didn't have them in their
home.''
He started in business as a "a trial
experience" with an ad in 99er Magazine
a little more than a year ago.
"Making a living is re..!lly what I
wanted to do when I began," Harter
says. "I thought either I could do this
or get a job with someone else. I've
been really lucky. Anyone who can
make money this way is lucky. Anybody
whom we publish-anyone who's
not in the company and we pick themis
lucky. Any programmer who
doesn't have his own company is going
to have a hard time. Companies aren't
going to be formed as readily as they
have been, also."
Hughes says his expectation was ''to
make a living in a fun way. I think it's
terrific that people pay me money to
write programs. I do it at home for fun
anyway. It's not easy, but that's part
of the fun. When you solve a problem it
gives you such a great feeling."
Hughes expresses concern about the
''popular magazine fallacy'' that' 'you
can be a programmer and make a million
dollars.'· He also says that putting
computers in the schools and ''saying
that 20 years from now every child will
be a programmer'' is like ''putting
pianos in all the schools and saying 20
years from now everybody's going to
be a Chopin. Some have a talent and
some don't."
DISAPPOINTMENTS
Vaughn says his greatest disappointment
as a programmer was
"probably spending about six months
on a bit-map program in machine language
and finding out it was utterly
worthless." With experiences like
this, he says, "sometimes you'll go
back to square one and sometimes
you'll say, 'To heck with it.' "
Swett says his greatest disappointment
is with ''the inflexibility of the
business community. I have a quality
piece of software and they'll say 'Is
this for a TI? We don't distribute for
TI., "
''I think my biggest disappointment
is that people don't think third party
software is of such quality," Lannie
says. "There's a lot of bad software
and that tends to reflect on everybody
when in fact there's also a lot of great
software.''
''It was certainly disappointing
when TI dropped the computer,"
Emory says. "I've also been disappointed
with TI and their instructions
for assembly language-the help that
they give you with the manual. I
couldn't learn to do it 'til I went to an
outside source.''
Dollard also lists as his greatest disappointment
''that TI pulled out. My
greatest personal disappointment was
probably some programs I was looking
forward to writing and I ran out of
memory space. They were just too
big."
This occurred, he adds, before he
acquired a disk drive.
Harter says his greatest disappointment
is "the limitations of the
machine. We' deliberately limited our
market to programs anybody can run.
I've grown beyond 16K but we're still
limited to 16K because most people
don't have any more."
However, he adds, "It's fun getting
as much out of 16K as you can."
Harter also says that "it would be
fun getting recognition. People like a
game, but people won't know what was
put into it. I'm also disappointed in
computer manufacturers, that they
haven't expanded their technology
more than they have."
SATISFACTIONS
His greatest satisfactions, Harter
says, come from "mostly things that I
know I've accomplished and nobody
else does. There aren't many people
who take a program and pull it apart
and see how it's done. But I know how I
did it and I'm proud of that.'·
Also, he adds, "just making a living
is an accomplishment.·'
Hughes says, ''The greatest sense of
accomplishment is when you succeed
in completing a project. It stands up
there for all the world to see and it
works. For years afterwards and
maybe thousands of miles away people
are using and enjoying and benefitting
from my work. That makes me
proud."
Vaughn lists his greatest sense of
accomplishment as ''probably getting
over learning TMS machine language.
It takes some time before you get a
grasp of what machine language isgetting
over the fear of machine
language."
Emory also says his greatest thrill
was "probably with mastering
machine language. Once I figured it
out I was so relieved. Also, coming out
with our first game was pretty exciting.
Seeing our game in the stores was
pretty neat.··
''The biggest thrill as a programmer
is when customers give you feedback
that tells you your product is as good
as you think," Swett says.
Lannie's view is similar: "Probably
gaining satisfaction from people having
used your products and those products
having been received well."
Dollard also says it is ''probably the
feedback I've received with the computer
business."
He produces adventure games
which have "a multitude of places you
can get stuck. People I've sold games
to have written to me. They say they
they love these games. Some say they
like mine the best of all third party
games. That really makes me proud.
I've had no complaints in over 1,000
letters."
THE HARDEST THING
"The hardest thing" about being a
programmer, according to Dollard,
"is creating the idea. That can take
two or three times as long as the
programming.''
Emory says, "Two of the hardest
things are coming up with a good idea,
first, and the next hardest thing is
completing it. Getting all the bugs
out-that's the worst."
''The difficulty is the machine
itself," says Harter. "You have to
work inside the limitations of the
machine. That includes what's in the
machine and what memory it has. You
get frustrated."
However, he adds, "You have to do it
a long time before you get to the point
where the machine's too small for
you."
Another difficulty, he says, is TI getting
out of the market.
"If we're going to stay, we have to
find another computer," he says.
''I deal with business people who are
just beginning to get computers in
their offices," Hughes says, "and it's
hard to get them to tell me exactly
what they want to get the computer to
do.''
A computer, he adds, is "a dumb
machine'' which will nevertheless
work very fast if given exact
instructions-getting those instructions
from others is a difficulty.
"Regardless of what kind of program
you have, there's always going
to be somebody that doesn't like it,"
Vaughn says. "I find that very difficult
to take, personally."
"Sometimes the biggest problem is
time constraints, especially if you
have a fertile mind," Swett says. "I
have an idea a day but I don't have a
staff of 100 programmers to carry
them out. It takes so long to get the
coding polished, and by that time I
hqve 10 more ideas. But I can only
work on one idea at a time."
"Finding time to put the ideas into
the computer" is difficult, Lannie
says. "I don't have time to pursue each
· project."
OTHER COMPUTERS
Emory says he does not write programs
for computers other than the
TI.
"Not for sale," he adds. "We have,
just for fun. We're a pretty new company
and we thought breaking into the
market, the easiest was the TI. A couple
of computers are very expensive
just to get your game out, like Apple
and Atari."
"Shifting to another computer will
be a real burden," says Harter.
"Coleco would be good but so much
of their stuff is proprietary. They're
gong all out just like TI did to make the
software market all their own. The
IBM market is so huge the competition
is just fierce. It's just too big for us to
get into. Apple has a lot of programs
for sale."
He says that Cor-Comp's Phoenix
"looks good" and that Radio Shack's
home computer "is cheap and it's
popular. We may end up supporting
one of those two."
"In the business are I've worked on
12 different computers in seven different
languages," Hughes says. "In the
home area, only on TI. The reason for
that is I thought I might absorb everything
there is to know about TI and
then move on, but I'm still learning
about TI."
TI, he notes, has built-in hardware
for the multiply-and-divide function
and a 16K memory, whereas for the
original Apple, for instance, the
memory is BK and the multiply-anddivide
function is on software.
''By no means is the TI an oldfashioned,
out-of-date, consigned-tothe-
graveyard child's toy," he says.
"It's still a very powerful machine
whose potential has barely been
scratched. That's not to say it won't be
superseded."
For instance, he says, the proposed
Phoenix looks to be ''even more powerful
and more wonderful.''
Vaughn produces only items for the
Tl99/4A at present, except for "some
in-house used items for the TRS-80. It's
mostly because that's where the
market is."
He says the quality of a lot of software
on the market is not good enough
and that when people "get a taste of
ours" there is a market.
Compared to, for instance, Apple,
"there are not very many producers of
software for this machine. Since TI
cancelled there's a lot on the market,
but six months from now people will be
needing software for this machine."
Swett says he is negotiating with
several companies to write software.
Because he has written Companion for
the TI, he says, his "credibility is very
high," with "expertise I can hand
them on the basis of this program
package."
''I'd just rather concentrate on the
TI," says Lannie, conceding that he
may have to convert to another
machine in a year or two. "I wouldn't
jump in with Apple just now. The
market's saturated."
Dollard says he works only with TI
because "that's all I own presently.
Even if I did have another computer I
wouldn't have the time to spend on it.
''Studying takes up a great deal of
my time," says Dollard, a sophomore
electrical engineering major.
FUTURE PROSPECTS
"The future looks dim right now" for
TI programmers, Lannie says,
'' u n l e s s a n o t h e r m a n u f a c t u r e r
decides t o pick u p rights t o the TI
console.''
Oth e r s a r e s o me w h a t m o r e
optimistic.
"The market's not expanding, but
the peole who have Tl's will not be
throwing them away," Emory says.
"Hopefully, with the Phoenix the
market will expand. The people who
are out there are still buying."
A TI is worth getting if it can be
found, according to Dollard.
"I would say that for a very cheap
price of only $50 to $100 you can pick up
an excellent computer," he says.
"This investment for a parent with a
kid in school could be very important.
You can learn a lot in six months at
home, what would take you two years
in college. An adult can learn whether
or not he's interested in computers for
$50 or $100 before buying an IBM-PC at
$2,000."
"The Tl's a special problem," Harter
says. "We don't want to give up on
the TI. There may have been two million
owners a month ago but a lot of
those have put their computers in the
closet. T!ie market is still very big.
Many people wanted a computer and
bought a $50 computer. There's no
reason to get another one if you
already have this one. There's a hard
core market that will be around for a
long time.''
"I've had three 1972 Chevrolet
Vegas. That car was universally
panned. Even though Chevrolet
stopped making them, they're still
around. Edsel owners, too: They keep
their cars and they love their cars.,.
He notes that the TI computer will
continue to be serviced.
"They don't fall apart," he says.
''They're very well built. If other companies
feel different and abandon TI,
we'll just be in a better position."
Harter says, "As long as there's places
to advertise, there'll be people selling
things for the TI."
"I definitely will stay in until I don't
break even ,my more," says Hughes.
"The Tl's not relegated to the scrap
heap by any means. There's tons of
things you can do that haven't been
done yet. Five years from now there
may be computers that will be better
but this one will still do a good job at a
very good price. The new ones will
have more memory and more power,
but they will cost $500. $600. $700. Cera
tain jobs don't need all that memory or
all that power. It is like having a Ferrari
race car. You might compare the
TI99/4A to the Volkswagen. College
kids still buy them, and they work. The
TI will not all of a sudden become a
piece of scrap iron."
Vaughn says that with other companies
"things are becoming larger,"
while producing software for the TI is
becoming '' a cottage-type industry.
It's sort of a do-it-yourself computer."
Sharing of programs is common, he
notes, as is going to four or five source
to get what you want for the TI.
'''— LB'''
