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How to Work on Two Files at Once While Using Plain Old WordStar
How to Work on Two Files at Once While Using Plain Old WordStar
Windows, among other things, let you view several files atonce and move material back and forth (see Backup IX, “Window Shoppingâ€).Even though plain old WordStar lacks windows, youmightbe able to upgrade your software to include them. Ask your dealer about IBM’s Topview software and Microsoft’s Windows.
Windows, among other things, let you view several files atonce and move material back and forth (see Backup IX, “Window Shoppingâ€).
Even though plain old WordStar lacks windows, youmightbe able to upgrade your software to include them. Ask your dealer about IBM’s Topview software and Microsoft’s Windows.
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For Rubinstein personally, 1984 had also been eventful. He and his wife had separated—different interests, he said—and he had a heart attack. He had lost thirty pounds but had come back “stronger than ever.†Meanwhile, an initial public stock offering in March had made him richer than ever. It brought MicroPro $13 million.
“After all is said and done,†Rubinstein told me about the offering, “I’ll end up with a little more than $5 million.†He already owned a gold-colored Corvette and a house worth hundreds of thousands. “And okay,†Rubinstein said, “so I’ll decorate the house. I’ll buy some furniture. So maybe I’ll spend another couple hundred thousand, but most of the money will be used for investment, not to go on some wild spending spree.†He said that “unless you’re a dissipated type, your life really doesn’t change.â€[22]
His corporate life, however, would be different. Perhaps chastened by Adam Osborne’s failure, some investors had insisted that Rubinstein give up control of MicroPro. He would still serve on the board. And he would help plot long-range strategy and develop new products, but the old entrepreneurial environment was vanishing at MicroPro and in much of the industry at large.
The Osborne failure haunted Rubinstein in ways besides making money raising somewhat harder. Some investors in Osborne filed a suit saying that Rubinstein—owner of Osborne stock—had bailed out ahead of time, using insider knowledge. “It’s such hoked-up bullshit; it’s just ridiculous,†Rubinstein said in May 1984. He had “needed the money ... principally to pay my taxes.â€[23]
By now, the sales of personal-computer software exceeded $1.5 billion a year.[24]Throughout the industry, accountants and others in three-piece suits were increasingly calling the shots. Marketing considerations—advertising, even the designs of the boxes housing the software—often overwhelmed technical ones. A word-processing program called Select typified some so-called user-friendly software aimed at the burgeoning market.
Backup:
Backup:
â—¼III, The Lucky 13: What to Look for in Choosing Software, page302.