Issue 074: Lotus Development Corporation

November 4th, 2024

Welcome to the 74th issue of De Programmatica Ipsum, about Lotus Development Corporation. In this edition, we go back to a beautiful time, when Lotus was a major and humane force in the software industry; in the Library section, we review "Giving Notice" by Freada Kapor Klein; and in our Vidéothèque section, we watch Mitch Kapor explaining why (and how) diversity is essential for startup success.

There Was A Time That Was Beautiful

by Adrian Kosmaczewski

Paraphrasing Charles Dickens, the 1980s were the best of times, were the worst of times. And no, I am not talking specifically about retrocomputing-related subjects, of which we have indulged in past issues of this magazine, but about the more complicated subject of society as a whole. Reaganomics, AIDS, Electropop, Perestroika and Glasnost, Thatcher, Miami Vice, Rubik's cubes, wars, Stallone, Chernobyl, Challenger, Bhopal, recessions, inflation, Solidarność, Madonna, Black Monday, E.T., Terminator, Olympic boycotts, heavy metal, Lady Di, Michael Jackson; all concepts, words, names that evoke an era mirrored on top of a CRT screen displaying a Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet.

Mitch Kapor

by Adrian Kosmaczewski

Regular readers of this magazine might remember that we opened our issue about Microsoft three years ago with a reference to the D5 conference panel of May 2007, where Bill Gates and Steve Jobs shared the stage with Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg. At the beginning of that event, around minute 07:30 of the recording, you can hear Walt calling out a certain person in the audience.

Freada Kapor Klein

by Adrian Kosmaczewski

Let us agree on one basic principle, one that most regular readers of this magazine already know is a core tenet at its heart: the phrase "Human Resources" is atrocious. There is no other way to describe the appalling sentiment and the contempt brought into our minds as we read such a contraption. Even worse, the fact that some people voluntarily choose to wear it as part of their professional title is beyond our comprehension. If you do not agree with this idea, you might want to stop reading altogether.