A sidebar to the “Apple’s Lisa: A personal Office System”
report published in January 1983, pp. 2.
This is the first of a new series of Seybold Reports, prepared by the staff of Seybold Publications.
Its sister publications, The Seybold Report on Office Systems and The Seybold Report on
Publishing Systems, are leading newsletters in the fields of office automation and
editorial/publishing electronics. The penetration of personal and professional computers into the
offices of every industry has progressed so far that we felt we had to increase our coverage to
devote more attention to the new generation of professional-quality computers and software while
not giving short shrift to our traditional areas of coverage.
What is a professional computer? It is not a device designed to be used primarily by professionals
(researchers, doctors, lawyers, etc.). For, a professional computer, like a personal computer, is
equally appropriate for use by secretaries, managers, professionals and even executives. One might say that
a professional computer is used to assist you in your professional capacity, whatever that might be,
while a personal computer is more appropriate for casual and at home use.
A professional computer is a personal computer that has “grown up.” It is designed for business
use by the non-computer literate business person. It may be used in the home for business purposes,
or by people who work at home; but its real place is in the office.
If the professional computer is the appropriate desk-top machine for the office, how do we explain, then,
the phenomenon of the personal computer invasion in the office? Why are there such large numbers of
Apples, TRS-80’s, Commodore Pets, etc. in use in business today? Because professional quality computers
and software are only now coming into being, and personal computers have been able to fill
the need for low-cost desk-top computers in the office in the absence of more appropriate solutions.
How do we characterize these more appropriate solutions? Here is the hard part. We could be oversimplistic
and say that a professional computer must have a 16-bit processor, a hard disk (or at least the
equivalent in terms of data storage – at least 5 MB), and a set of easy-to-learn integrated software
programs (spreadsheet, data base, business graphics, word processing, project management, etc.) designed for
the average office worker. We could also say that unlike an office system, the focus of the professional computer
system is the individual’s desk-top, not the entire office. Professional computing software does
not necessarily need to concern itself with shared applications and functions, such as electronic mail,
shared filing services, shared data base access, shared printer support, while a true office system has
those responsibilities. And we could say that what distinguishes a professional from a personal computer is
the quality of the software as well as that of the entire package (hardware, documentation, support). And,
of course, we could say that what separates a professional computer from a “commercial-quality”
word processor is the quality of the word processing software and the secretarial orientation of the
WP device. But we won’t say any of those things. Because, as you can tell, such distinctions are
already becoming rather arbitrary.
So keep your eye on us, as we evolve with the industry. The editorial thrust of this new series on
professional computing, of which six issues will appear irregularly throughout the coming year, will focus
on systems and software that will be making a large impact on the way you do business in the years to come.
The Seybold Report on Professional Computing
Published by Seybold Publications, Inc.
Business and Production Offices:
P.O. Box 644, Media, Pennsylvania 19063
Telephone: (215) 565-2480
Telex 4991493
John W. Seybold, Publisher
Peter E. Dyson, Business Manager
Stephen E. Edwards, Associate Editor
George A. Alexander, Associate Editor
Thomas Swain, Production Director
Martha E. Morrison, Office Manager
Patricia B. Seybold, Editor-in-Chief
44 Bromfield Street, Suite 801, Boston, Mass. 02108
Telephone: (617) 542-2261
Jonathan W. Seybold, Executive Editor
28936 Cliffside Drive, Malibu, California 90265
Telephone: (213) 457-7924
Hilde L. Uhler, Associate Editor
831 Longwood Drive, N.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30305
Telephone: (404) 351-9588
Joseph L. Ehardt, Contributing Editor
Box 811, Milpitas, California 95035
Telephone: (408) 946-1079
Linda O’Keeffe, Contributing Editor
301 E. Virginia, Suite 4081, Phoenix, Arizona 85012
Andrew M. Seybold, Contributing Editor
Box 208, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Telephone: (213) 370-0543
Editorial coverage with the assistance of PIRA
Randalls Road, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22, 7RU U.K.
John W. Birkenshaw and Jon Maslin, Contributing Editors
Telephone: 44 3723 76161
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