The story below is part of the “Hi-Yo, Silicon!” Texas tech industry birth package. Read the rest of the collection here.
This story is from Texas Monthly’s archives. We left it as it was originally published, without any upgrades, to keep a clear historical record.
Over Elgin, from the U.S. 290, there is an unmarked red clay road. From the road there is another one going up and down the hills to the hollow of the trees. From there there is a winding road that cuts through the woods and ends at another house that sits behind half of the cars and trucks, most of which seem outdated.
Peter Banz, sprinkled with red clay, blue clay, and sand, is still working in the backyard. He spent the day at the front of the machine and produced a large, deep hole; put a plastic swimming pool in the hole and filled it with water. He calls it a fish pond, but it looks like a mud hole. “It takes a lot of work,” she says. He hurried back to the house, stood in his office before heading for the shower.
The narrow road has been cleaned up by a mess in his office. Most notable is the waste of electronic devices: buttons and small buckets full of chips that Banz uses to repair and expand computers sent to him by friends and acquaintances, the publishers are still mock the latest textbook textbook for his new mailing list program. , and streams of strings under the seats and on top of paper-wrapped paper boxes. Three Radio Shack computers — Class I I (pre-1980) and two Colored Computers — have been installed in this room. One of the Color Computers has no plug and needs to be repaired; the other is busy showing colorful pictures. Country magazines dedicated exclusively to CoCo (as Color Computer is known to users) are scattered all over — Color Computer Magazine, Color Computer News, Rainbow, Color Computer Weekly, and Hot CoCo.
However, not everything in the office is related to computers. Banz Company, Ceratec, summarizes his computer activities and the brick-and-mortar business that he runs in his own home. Modern business contributes more to the office: open and open letters, catalogs, printed papers between desks and tables, and piles of receipts and invoices.
The phone rang once and then stopped, though no one answered. The various machines in the room are ringing, ringing, and clicking on the function. The saint’s number 5792 enters, and the words “The Avenger Cedar Rapids IA,” identifying him, appear briefly on the screen of Model I. He is replaced by a picture of a Banz cat, Morris, wearing a hat. bright colors. and he drives a shiny red car across the screen. Morris welcomes Avenger. Banz laughs at the picture, explaining that he had a lot of fun wearing Morris with a hat, a small car, and even a Santa Claus suit for Christmas. “I like to make a few jokes on this subject. Otherwise, people are very serious, ”he said.
After Morris left, a long list of options appeared. Avenger can choose from twenty or more offerings, such as Graphics Contest, Editorials, Bargain Mart, and Texas Landmarks. The list stays on the screen until Avenger, more than a thousand miles away, decides.
Peter Banz is the sysop of CoCo BBS. That is, he is the administrator of the Color Computer news board service management system. The service provides Banz and its CoCo owners with a communication center; through it they share information and advice, exchange messages, and call image files, software reviews, and other interesting items that Banz offers. Unlike other large, commercial services, Banz BBS has no membership requirements and does not charge callers or access fees. Anyone who has a Radio Shack Color Computer and modem — a device that enables computers to communicate over the telephone — can use his service; the only cost is to call Elgin a long distance. Out-of-pocket costs for running such a service are minimal — just a few extra dollars on his electricity bills and business telephone bills. However, the time and resources needed to maintain it day and night are very limited. Dedicating his CoCo to the information board service makes it a public asset.
Why would anyone give up their computer to BBS? Much of Banz’s influence comes from the idea that he is contributing to the future. At the age of 31, he came to Texas from Switzerland in 1977 to work in Elgin-Butler as a bricklayer. It wasn’t until 1980, when he started using his friend’s computer, that he was fascinated by tablet services. He looked at everything he could find, and said that his phone bill was now four digits. Eventually he decided to establish his ministry. He is proud to have launched the second existing BBS Color Computer, a few months after the first, in New York City. He controlled the field of color photography for over a year, until some appeared throughout the country. Today there are about 70 Color Computer scoreboards, and every few weeks Banz hears about the new one. Texas now has about six.
The popularity of these services is in part due to the success enjoyed by Color Computer itself. CoCo is produced in Fort Worth by Tandy Radio Shack, and since its inception in 1980, it has won over loyal, perhaps even extremely enthusiastic, followers to Texas. Henderson Color Computer Club, one of the first CoCo clubs in the country, was founded in January 1982. So many people joined the club that in the months of its inception, it became East. Texas Color Computer Club. A year later the group had more than 1,500 new members from around the world, and in the January 1983 Rainbow ad, it announced its new name, International Color Computer Club, and called itself an organization. the world’s largest CoCo team. It distributes its newspaper, assists its members in exchanging programs, and offers discounts on CoCo assets.
Tandy, a privately owned, privately owned company, refuses to disclose the number of Colored Computers he has sold. A company representative could only say that there were “many of them out there.” Last year the president of the International Color Computer Club estimated that more than 300,000 units had been sold. I asked the Radio Shack manager if that number was correct. He did not intend to say anything, but nodded in agreement. I tried 400,000. He agreed again. I jumped to a million directly. Also headaches. I tried two million. The game was over; he just smiled.
Banz estimates that about 300 CoCo owners use his BBS every month. They often report donations to other BBSs at the Banz message center, where the information can be read by other callers. Callers sometimes leave information about pirate “BBS”. (Such a service may list, for example, the phone numbers and security codes required to access Exxon and Visa computers.) Other BBS special features include explicit sexually explicit images , Yankee jokes, science fiction movie reviews, and other BBS phone numbers.
Banz humbly shows that his service has the largest selection of color graphics for CoCos in the world. His images have established the reputation of his news board as a very important cost of the phone, and its users come in from all over the country. Texas, Banz’s main market are Austin, Corpus Christi, Baytown, Houston, and Dallas, with strong exhibitions from El Paso and Midland. It is not uncommon for a caller to spend a few hours wandering around in different parts of the BBS.
While Banz is talking, the computer starts ringing again. Avenger made his choice, and after a few moments a beautiful Texas view of his screen and ours appeared. The file includes Alarm, LBJ Library, and the amazing Houston skyline, each with a brief historical record. Banz hopes to launch an Alarm War in the future, but so far he has not been able to explain it with the details needed to meet his tough standards.
The rate at which data can be transmitted via mobile modems is limited, and even with a large computer it may not be useful to send a more detailed image. Banz has his drawings painted on a web that allows him to have 64 pixels (“image points,” or light dots) wide, 32 pixels low and eight colors; it takes more than thirteen seconds for the full image to appear on the screen. Color Computer can give him very high resolution — up to 256 pixels wide and 192 pixels down, in two colors — but it would take about three minutes for the image to appear on the screen. Few users want to stand out and pay for all that long. Due to modern limitations, Banz ‘images cannot be transmitted. He is now in the process of transferring his images from Model I, completely degraded, to his Color Computer.
No longer exploring graphic shows, the average user spends most of his time in the BBS magazine section, all of which are written by Banz. As a published magazine, it contains the most common departments and features, editorial articles, the latest computer news, and reviews of new products, including what Banz calls “Monkey King Kong Dong Games and “Pac Smac Mac Bunch.” , and how much it costs.
These statistics often indicate the time for new developments. Every month Banz spends many hours exploring new products, writing new publications and painting new paintings. The failure of many sysops to improve their services explains why most of them pack up in their first few weeks of operation. Users do not return to read archives.
BBS consumes Banz’s time in another way — in the form of a conversation. The user writes at the end of the conversation, which appears on the Banz screen; Banz then types in his response, which appears on the user screen. The conversation can continue this way for hours. Like sysop, Banz has to talk as long as the user wants.
Soon the avenger is out. His twenty minutes on BBS will appear as a $ 4 to $ 5 fee on his next phone bill. Since this was his first phone call and because he used a pseudonym, Banz carefully monitored his activities. The computer world, like everyone else, has its share of troubles. Many BBS abusers make only minor mistakes on ethics, such as pressing the board with repetitive advertisements. Others display disturbing behavior. Users are known to leave suicidal messages on 12 BBSs simultaneously, asking anyone who signs up to be a friend. Obscene language is often displayed on screen. And then there are the administrative zappers, users who are trying to disrupt the BBS program itself.
To combat such problems, sysops are beginning to introduce different levels of protection. In the program that Banz sells for beginners to their BBS, not all message boards and services are open to every caller; others require a password for login and allow users to leave messages for sysop that no other user can read. One feature, which no user normally finds, monitors the entire system. But in the system zapper, the security codes are there just to be broken. A malicious zapper can damage the software needed to run a BBS. It can take sysop for about two months to assemble all the pieces in a more secure way. And there is no guarantee that the zapper will never hit again.
While Banz and I were talking, a user came in and requested an image file. But this time something was wrong; access to Banz’s beautiful paintings is no longer possible. Banz, instantly frustrated, searches the internet for error. It was found that the H file, which is important for visual representation, does not exist. He presses a few buttons, trying to fix them quickly, but the H file does not rise easily. He eagerly searches the office to find the printed version of the H file so that he can put it back in the system. He initially blames his wife for losing the print; when he finds it, he accuses Morris of covering it with marble publications; he was ready to accuse me of something, until I reminded him of the system zapper. He finally blames himself. You recently added program security, and in practice the H file was deleted. He complains that at least he is in Texas and not New York, where telephone damage is very common.
Banz can’t keep up with the constant care his BBS wants. A computer system operating 24 hours a day does not run very well for a very long time, and if it needs to be repaired, it must be done immediately. Banz can’t wait weeks before the Radio Shack store repairs his computer; the waiters would have thought that his service had been reduced. So he takes care of himself. Running a BBS and working as a full-time hacker – someone who changes and expands his or her computer – is the same job.
Users often leave messages on Banz’s BBS asking for help to change their Color Computers. He has become known as a computer programmer, which was primarily designed for games and educational programs, to become a more sophisticated tool. A distressed person may turn to someone who is waiting for him or her— “a cry for help” —a request for instructions. One often ends up bringing his computer to Banz, who for a small fee will split and expand it.
The first step is to open the computer on its back and remove the seven screws from the bag. The last screw is covered with a sticker that reads, “The opening case will void the warranty.” That warning illustrates Radio Shack’s attitude toward criminals: continue at your own risk. In the past, less than a decade ago, Radio Shack would not tolerate hardware changes. When the owner of his computer brought his computer for service, Radio Shack would remove all “alien” components and restore them to a clean state.
With a completely different perspective, Apple has built an environment for eight more microchips inside the IIe computer so that its capabilities can be expanded. Apple has also encouraged outsiders to design and implement extensions and modifications. In Banz ‘view, it was this attitude that kept Apple competing with Radio Shack in the late seventies, despite a strong national network of Radio Shack retailers. Although it was difficult to find Apple, the lack of a warning sticker created a problem. IBM Personal Computer, which has five extensions, stands as Apple’s philosophical agreement: owners have the right to define, and upgrade their devices. The Radio Shack has reached a certain level – its new Model 2000 has four other board spaces – but it still disappoints the tests.
This afternoon Banz is upgrading the BBS user CoCo. Once he has opened a case of exposing the colored chips, capacitors, and resistors inside, he then picks up the low-level Radio Shack “Chiclet” box in this way. a smooth line, similar to an electric typewriter. It is important to choose the right keyboard, as it is the user’s primary means of communicating with his computer. The lowest structure is the membrane keyboard, a pressure-resistant panel that is widely used in microwave ovens and copying machines. A low-end battery with the first type of Timex / Sinclair computer has a keyboard of this type. It is easy to clean and does not require maintenance, but importing any important data through it is difficult. The next step for keyboards is with small Chiclets such as keys, such as those commonly found in calculators. Until recently CoCo had that kind of keyboard; then comes with a typing keyboard that Banz describes as “toylike.” Five companies are making new keyboards just like the one Banz is currently installing.
Next, Banz unveils eight computer memory chips. Computer imaging — defined as the amount of information that can be stored and stored temporarily — determines the complexity of programming. Remembering small things can greatly reduce the value of a machine. These chips can store 16,384, or 16K, pieces (pieces of information). There is plenty of room for a good game but it is not enough for functions such as word processing, which requires additional memory space for programming data created by the program. With 16K bits, only five to six pages of text are possible. Banz will charge the computer owner about $ 50 to replace eight 16K chips with 64K chips, bringing the Reader’s computer to its next level. It takes him about a minute.
In addition to cheating on hardware and managing his BBS, Banz has already started writing and selling software for Color Computer. Each time his BBS crashed, whether due to system zappers or lightning, he improved it as he restored it. It could be that sysops are buying programs from him that allow them to switch their computers into BBS; The latest sale was at BBS starting El Paso, the fourth in the city. He also plays by writing business software for CoCo, including his sophisticated mailing list program.
Once a criminal has become a businessman, however, computer skills alone are not enough for success. The computer industry is a complex, high-risk business, and ever-changing technology is making the design of today obsolete. Retailers of the device often spend an unusually high $ 1 on ads for $ 2 a sale. For now, Banz is content to sell his software through his BBS. It costs him nothing, and to some extent justifies his use of his BBS. Alternatively, he can write down his best ideas.
The Software Cowboy
Software piracy is probably the most frustrating problem facing computer entrepreneurs. Like songs, poems, plays and story books, computer programs enjoy copyright protection, and once purchased they are only intended for use by the owner. However, piracy is widespread. Creating an unprotected copy of an unprotected program simply requires installing a program and a blank disk on the computer, pressing some keys, and waiting a few seconds for the program to be downloaded. Most software developers therefore create some kind of copy protection in their programs. On the same subject : Wire WIC for better working families with no food. For example, a program may trick a computer into thinking that something is wrong with the copy, causing the computer to malfunction. But the more sophisticated security policy is, the more cybercriminals will continue to face the challenge. They get involved in every new protected copy program, degrading the content of its protections, and then sell the official copies at much lower prices. The common denominator is that for every program sold, nineteen are stolen.
At the center of the theft debate is 30-year-old Kim Watt, a program specialist for Dallas company PowerSoft. Many who know him believe that he is an intelligent man. His programs have often been selected as the best of the choices taken by computer magazines. His well-known program, Super Utility Plus, is a powerful software component for Radio Shack’s TRS-80 Models I, III, and 4 that makes it much easier to perform tasks that are often complex – including programming a theft. Beneficiaries of Super Utility Plus see Kim Watt riding on a computer screen in a bright white; programmers who suspect that Super Utility Plus has been used to steal their creations only see a black-and-white villain.
Most Watt software simplifies the implementation of other, more complex programs. For example, suppose a game developer working on a game seeks a healthy result. Finding a good way to get it can take several hours or days of testing if it starts from scratch. But if he uses the Watt PowerDraw program, it is much easier to draw individual screens and combine them for a life effect. All this for $ 39.95.
And novice users find Watt programs very useful. Most people know that unused energy is inside their machines but they are afraid to go out on their own. Watt expands their vision, burning well-marked paths within the hard surface of their computers. His programs give owners a broader understanding of the capabilities of their machines than canned programs from Radio Shack and other entrepreneurs. And Watt software can be adapted to run on almost all of Tandy’s computers.
To highlight his reputation as a rebel leader in the home computer desert, Watt welcomed the Cowboy Software role wholeheartedly. It is common to find him on computer shows across the country, wearing a ten-liter hat and boots, signing leaflets and advising his followers. Although he is from Michigan, he is looking for a role. She has metallic blue eyes, brilliant hair, and a snake tattoo on each bicep. His behavior is also objective; kind of strong, quiet, careful about talking about his work. His comments and answers are closed and guarded, presented in a quiet monotony.
He is a college graduate, like most of the 20 people who work for PowerSoft. He was the first student to buy his first computer, the TRS-80 Model I, in 1978. The following year he started a computer programming business and found that he can live comfortably in it. He thoroughly researched the computer, invented and documented techniques that no one else knew, even the technicians who invented the machine.
Watt has the intelligence to run thousands of computer commands in his mind, organized and organized by the department, and to access one of them without effort. His programming style has always been unusual; as if in spite of all the textbooks on the subject, he never made his own paper showing the program. He just sits down and writes it down.
Of the 30 programs Watt has put on the wall of his office, Super Utility Plus is the most prominent. When it first hit the market, in 1980, it was the most comprehensive program written for the TRS-80 Model I and Model III, and PowerSoft sold thousands of copies for $ 75 each. Super Utility Plus, which has been updated nine times, is a combination of more than eighty programs designed to make Radio Shack computers more useful for mainstream owners. For example, high voltage sometimes causes the computer to contaminate data. Using the Super Utility Plus disk repair process, most of the data can be restored, saving hours of rebuilding time.
Unfortunately, the power and ambition of the program are causing problems for PowerSoft. The company once advertised a product whose purpose was to make illegal copies of Super Utility Plus; Surprisingly, the techniques used can be learned from Super Utility Plus. So far no one has been able to break through all the privacy features Watt has covered in recent upgrades, but previous versions have been attacked, making a profit on PowerSoft.
The advanced capabilities of the program have added to one of the hottest behavioral problems for computer owners — being a thief or not being a thief. Everyone in the computer world is eager to give their opinion on the matter, including Banz. He argues that theft is sometimes justified. He says he has lost so much money on malicious software – “things that do not work and are not suitable for the disk that comes with it” – so much so that he sometimes steals programs just to try them out. “Now, if a program is good and tells me what it does and I really use it, I don’t want to see them dwindle, so I buy it,” Banz says. Few users are honest enough to buy a program they have already stolen, however. Thus, to compensate for the loss of stolen copies, software houses raise prices; people feel they have a good reason to steal an expensive program and they do; the company raises the cost of the program once again.
Tracking software thieves is a difficult business. There is no effective way to track thousands of copies made and sold illegally. Mark Davidsaver, a CoCo specialist who runs a software company in his Austin home, complains of wasted hours he devised to devise ways to secure his software. Despite his precautionary measures, a few days after he started selling new protected devices, one Southern California thief constantly announces how to undermine security. in the services of the national board.
In a letter to the editor of a computer magazine dealing with theft, one reader wrote: “My personal solution is to add a picture of my boy to another program. one for sale. I will also include a letter asking people not to make illegal copies of the program or I will not be able to feed my boy. ”
Star-Kits, the company that developed the Color Computer software, has taken a new approach to theft. It offered pardon to owners of pirated software if they could state their source and pay 25 percent of program costs. The repentant owner was registered as a true buyer and received the latest copy of the program and the accompanying brochure. The large response to their production showed how widespread theft was. As a result, Star-Kits will no longer sell CoCo programs. Instead, it will focus on software for more expensive machines, in the hope that those owners will not be easy to commit theft programs.
Watt decided that instead of looking at his secrets slowly, he would tell them all — at a price. In a bold move that shocked the computer world of Radio Shack, he wrote a book explaining the internal functioning of Super Utility Plus. He printed a limited edition of five hundred copies and donated them for $ 500 each. His director of advertising praised the book in an ad that appeared in the national computer magazine:
All of Kim’s knowledge in ONE book! . . . It’s a collector’s thing, too. Less, of course. Lastly, but at least, it is expensive. Just above the water, though, as this product will make you a programmer if that is what you want. . . . It will also make you a senior team member who is able to gain Kim knowledge and can USE that knowledge to YOUR advantage.
About two hundred of these almost mysterious tome are still found, but they soon disappear. Owners include several government departments, the Navy, MIT and other universities, and Radio Shack staff. Of course, even the Lone Ranger can’t be expected to deliver all of his silver bullets. Watt points to a stack of computer papers, about six feet [2 m] high, on a bookshelf on one side of his office. “I could not put it all in a book,” she says.
The Veteran
The long-range radar shows the enemy’s 320-degree missile and enters Fort Worth. Charles Ehninger, head of the over-the-top air protection system, silently presses a few buttons on the control console, installing a tracking radar. The spear, which is now twenty miles away, appears on the screen. On the same subject : Library of Surplus Library Register Councilor David Cicilline. The enemy is trying one of its most difficult tactics, flying low, below the active corner of the antimissile system. If the missiles reach a distance of ten miles from Fort Worth, they will not be attacked.
Ehninger runs his fingers over his blue cheeks. His gold earrings were shiny — heavy on his finger, surrounded by the words “UT at Arlington,” and a hoop hanging from his ear.
The screen is empty. His radar is locked. He presses some buttons, looking for new radar waves. After terrifying seconds, the missiles reappear on the screen but are now only 15 miles [15 km] away. The sounds are getting louder and louder and Ehninger is quiet as he focuses on approaching the missiles. Eventually he succeeds in locking the radar to it, twelve miles from operation. He detonates his anti-missile missile. It roars in the sky, searching for its prey. Ehninger smiles, and the smiles on his forehead relax. “It has to be. While the enemy’s arrows may change direction, our missiles will follow. Unless. . . ” “Unless?”
“Unless it prevents us from locking in too often.” “Then what?”
While he was speaking, the sirens sounded from the control console. Lock time is restricted. Ehninger returns to the computer, frustrated and turns to manual controls to direct his missiles. But his efforts are in vain. Fort Worth was wiped out by heavy rain of light and color.
Playing the “Stop Missile-to-air” (SAM) Defense System is clearly giving Ehninger fun. One of the first games he wrote for the Texas Instruments home computer, has become obsolete, partly because of its authenticity. His experience as a creator of war games for the Pentagon earned him an extraordinary qualification to write the “sky fall-aware” video game “nukes”.
Ehninger, now 54 years old, began his career in the 50’s as a computer programmer named Geniac. In those days, most of the few computers available were owned by universities and state institutions, and each had its own name. They lived in environmentally friendly buildings, with professionals like Ehninger wearing long white coats. To most people, computers are strange and scary but really fun. The computer first appeared in November 1956, when CBS captured national attention by watching Remington Rand’s Univac on the eve of the presidential election. The “big brain” worked well, predicting Eisenhower’s chances of winning were one hundred to one.
To the amazement of onlookers, a spectacular display of flashing red, green, and amber lights flashed, and lines and buttons were turned off and the wheels were spinning. But that was not the case – CBS had built a Univac control fax. Ehninger, who vividly remembers the excitement of the event, could only dream of owning such a device. Although he knew computers better than most Americans did, he could work only as a servant, not as a master.
In the 60’s Ehninger went to work for IBM as a management engineer. But after four years, he got tired of using what he thought was less than the best equipment available. He left on his own, wandering around Texas, doing business computer programming voluntarily. During those years, he installed computers, special programs, and trained staff in every major Texas city. Then, annoyed at working on other people’s computers, he went back to school to improve his sixth-grade education. In three years he completed his first degree and masters degree, both in economics.
While he was in school, the industry continued. By 1979 it had introduced the home computer, which brings a high-powered machine within the price range of the average person. Perhaps he was the one who spent most of his life in the industry who could feel as happy as Ehninger about having a computer. He did not hesitate to use what he considered to be an unusually low price of $ 1000 for the Texas Instruments home computer. Eventually he was able to create his own shows and write programs that he would use. The computer was his.
He chose the Texas Instruments computer because he was familiar with its microprocessor — a chip that works as a computer brain — and knew the language needed to set it up. But performance was not the only Ehninger standard. He was amazed at the computer’s unique ability to pull anything from one point to the airplane and kaleidoscopic designs in a way that never repeats itself but not by chance. . Those “sprites”, created by the user but living their lives, were moving at the speed indicated by the program. Ehninger was convinced that no other home computer could affect TI’s.
While playing on a home computer, he wrote what he called a “simple program with little twists,” which won the first $ 3000 prize in a competition sponsored by Texas Instruments. The prize money allowed Ehninger to start his own business in his Fort Worth home. He started by writing games like SAM Defense System. But soon the games were no longer a challenge, as it only took him a few weeks to complete.
He turned to an exciting and misleading project: transforming the Texas Instruments home computer into a viable tool for business executives and freelancers. Ehninger has developed eight business packages for the TI home computer, from Accounts Payable to General Ledger. He then added a database that allows instant access to more than ten million data, enabling small businesses to enter the megabyte world at a fraction of the cost. personal computer.
Ehninger’s programs have worked very well. Last year sales tripled, and more than 150,000 copies of the programs have been sold since they went into self-employment. Five years ago his business moved from a dormitory to a pit, then to a closed courtyard, and finally to a shopping mall in a small shopping area. While implementing his software system, he has already sold more than twenty packages, for $ 5000 each.
Ehninger enjoys his financial success and the respect he has earned in the computer world. She has been involved in being a senior consultant, teaching computer teams, writing essays from time to time, and reviewing game programs submitted to her by progressive computer professionals. He feeds the newest game he has ever received for distribution, Newton’s Revenge, on a computer. He pushes the key indicating that he wants the highest level of difficulty. A moment later an apple tree and a jar appear on the screen. Apples fall to the ground at an alarming rate, and he uses a jar to catch them all. The next attack has many apples, which fall quickly. He is happy that a teenager can create such a simple but beautiful game on his computer. Ehninger loves to play the game, and he loves making money for both of them.
When Texas Instruments announced the cessation of work on a home computer in the fall of 1983, Ehninger was ready. He had reviewed every press release as if he were studying the Holy Writ and examined his views on internal sources. However, he expected the transition to other computers would be more difficult and costly. Instead, it was simple and profitable. When the price of a computer went downhill, many people rushed to buy. New and old owners turned to Ehninger for replacement programs that TI could no longer sell, which resulted in a significant increase in his sales. . He thinks the TI home computer will be alive for at least another few years. By then, all of his programs will be reborn with five more computers: TI’s Professional and Portable Professional, IBM Personal Computer and Personal Computer Junior, and TRS-80 Model 2000.
Convinced of his programming and marketing skills, Ehninger plans to compete with the older boys. His past advantages could be a loose change compared to the acquisition power of his modern mind, hardware and software for builders. It includes work estimates, costs, cost estimates, and, most importantly, reading and drawing the builder’s “critical path”.
Ehninger unfolds a large piece of paper that is compressed into squares and a circle connected by a complex series of lines; he describes it as a tool of planning. A heavy line representing the main road passes through the procession and shows the builder the importance and arrangement of the various steps in his construction project. Any event that is in the right direction, if delayed, can cause the whole project to suffer; non-essential events are less important. The builder can look at the critical path and find out what he needs to do next.
Working with architects and construction companies, Ehninger has developed a method of identifying the route; it only takes 45 minutes on the computer, compared to a week by hand. The information used to calculate the route also feeds the builder’s business programs, reporting costs and earning a living. Nothing like this has been written for home or personal computers, though even larger computers, starting at about $ 50,000, can run a comparable program.
If this modern project were to begin, Ehninger could become a millionaire. After 25 years of watching computer companies go up and down — especially ups and downs — they may finally be fully involved in their success. The prospect of continuing with a financial reward is fantastic, but for Ehninger it represents the fullness of computer skills like his own. He believes that computers should not be controlled by the government and big business, as they were before; they should be used by entrepreneurs to make a fortune.
He suggests we try to get Fort Worth back to the grave by playing SAM Defense System again. The program is installed immediately. A spear appears in the sky at about twelve o’clock. Shortly before the radar takes over, Ehninger loses control of Channel A, and the missiles disappear from the screen. He quickly turns to Channel B. The enemy’s spear is also seen, now only seventeen miles away.
“This time, we found it,” he says.
David Kramer is a freelance writer and lawyer based in Austin.
