In 1988 a word processing program called "Professional Write"
was loaded on our computers. We did all our work in PW.
We made templates allowing us to run off long forms in which
we would "Find & Replace" "Name" with the client's name, so
we never had to type any but the most unusual document.
We saved our work on Floppy Disks, and as time progressed,
on hard drives, which would be copied to floppy disks, for
as you know, Floppies do not last long.
Each year a secretary would use the DOS command, Xcopy, and
with a brand new box of diskettes, get everything saved
in the "Precedent" section of the Hard Drive onto floppies.
As the world went from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 we stayed
in DOS, buying new "naked" handmade computers for a fraction
of the cost, loading them with DOS and Professional Write,
making a Directory for our Precedents, and feeding floppy
by floppy into the new computer.
Soon enough we began to burn CDs of our work so that every
single computer that came in our office from 1988 until
1999 had a cloned harddrive.
Each new computer processed faster, had more storage and
move places to plug things in, but there never was a "work"
holiday.
The computer arrived, was plugged in, and a secretary
installed DOS and Professional Write and made a directory
called "Precedents" and either fed it diskettes or a CD.
Though our laptops came pre-bloated, we would use the little
facility to load our Professional Write, fling an Icon on the
desktop.
If we needed Internet accessibility on a computer, we made a
D drive, loaded Linux.
One day, it was decided to hire an "IT Expert". He examined
our systems, made many unpleasant remarks, and during our
two week Christmas break, "upgraded" and everyone walked in
to find XP on their computers.
There was no Professional Write and this genius imperiously
telling the staff they had to learn to use new and modern
word processing programs.
One of the things that many IT geniuses never take into
consideration is the key factor in our world; our work.
We don't have computers in our office to play Spider
Solitaire visit You Tube or My Space, we have them to produce
documents.
This Genius never thought we would have twenty years of
precedents which could only be read in Professional Write,
nor that the staff had used this incredibly simple program
to great efficiency.
As far as he knew, XP was "state of the art", (this is
before Vista) and the world had to use whatever word
processing program came in the bundle.
His idea was that the office was extremely eccentric,
compulsive retentive and that it was time for us to Move On.
When clearly instructed that there was twenty years of work
we needed to keep, his voice got squeaky, and he muttered,
'oh'.
I recount this story with all its gory details to give you
enough fortitude to confront all those shills who try to
get you to upgrade to unproductivity.
This is because of a major disconnect between the Work
and the Process.
Managers know what work they need done, even clerks know
what they have to do, the IT genius has no idea.
He doesn't realise a lawyer's office which deals with fusty
old Writs and Petitions doesn't need sound nor graphic nor
games, all it needs to do is produce documents.
If your system is working, don't touch it. Don't buy
prebloated computers unless you can F/Disk and load
what you've been using successfully all these years.?
for two weeks nothing could be done with the new 'System'.