HERSTORY
- Artificial Intelligence and the Apple Lisa
- The “desktop publishing” revolution
- “Oh! Wow!!!”
- Designers are just big kids anyway
- DarpaNet
- Nonprofit and FileMakerPro
- Send me a message
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JB has been using the Apple Macintosh operating system since the Apple Lisa. At that time she worked in an artificial intelligence (AI) lab in London (England) and which had one of the first Lisas sold in that country. It was fascinating. One could actually draw something without writing a program! JB quickly became a devout Mac addict.
Later, when the first Macintosh arrived, JB was disappointed by its lack of a hard drive, etc., but still excitedly waited for better to come. Later, JB moved on from and did other things before returning to the Macintosh platform several years later, just as the desktop publishing revolution began. JB co-created and taught the first commercial multi-platform desktop publishing in London. At that time we were using Aldus PageMaker (1.0!), MacDraw, Ventura Publisher, Microsoft Word, (1.0) Microsoft Write, and Microsoft Paint. Programs like FileMaker, PhotoShop and DreamWeaver weren’t even a gleam in anyone’s eye. We worked with floppy disks, small hard drive capacity and even smaller amounts of RAM. Ah! Those were the days!
It was an exciting time because everybody was eager to learn the new technology, but, as adults, we were afraid to make mistakes and look stupid. However, whenever we managed to learn something with the software…when the first publication or layout was completed…the look of joy and accomplishment on our faces was beautiful! The “AHA! Oh wow!!!!” moment, as JB calls it, was wonderful and such fun to behold. Kids have them all the time, but adults are too afraid to look silly and so don’t risk as much.
As the revolution grew, JB got burned out on teaching and started her own business as a systems consultant for design firms that wanted to invest in the new desktop technology. JB helped to, either integrate Macs into their existing mini computer environments, or begin to build entirely new systems. That was fun, because designers are basically big kids and JB got loads of “Oh wow!!!! moments. JB also did some articles for MacWeek, et. al. about new programs, and upgrades.
JB got involved with the Internet in the 1970’s when it was called DarpaNet, among other things. Remember HyperCard? That was exciting for awhile with it’s concept of hyperlinks and JB did a lot of application-building with that before getting into Omnis, FileMaker and other databases.
JB returned to the United States, from London, in 1990, worked with non profits and began creating web sites with relation to the FileMaker, creating database-to-web applications.
That’s what JB is doing now, but wants more page/site design rather than the database end of it. A new love is telling folks about the 4Rs: recycling, reuse, reduction and rot: lessening our environmental footprint and having fun while doing it. I'm also interested in personal development (reading, exercise, thinking), non-violent communication, writing, bike riding, hiking, gardening, cats (JB lives with three of them) and other animals, plus environmental issues.
Hope you found that interesting. It’s amazing all the stuff JB's done, and it was fun recounting it for you. Please have a look at the rest of the site for ideas about the work we've done. We look forward to hearing from you about your next project.