I'm 25 and was raised on the Mac/Amiga, then got into UNIX....and used Windows (reluctantly, until Win2k came out) since version 3.0 and various other platforms...
When I first encountered our MV application I thought "this looks like an ancient piece of crap". I changed positions to IT manager shortly after being hired and quickly learned the power and flexibility for quickly writing and customizing powerful business software--things which would take much much longer in other environments--and the bland ADDS viewpoint interface no longer bothered me. Too many business applications are filled with bloat, fancy graphics, and hard coded feature sets rather than real functionality or flexibility. We have our brilliant software engineers to thank for the app we use but they chose MV for a reason. To badly re-phrase a cliche, it's the data, stupid. (Not referring to you of course). Some applications simply do not need a GUI, even in this day and age. Particularly business applications. I was a student at UC Berkeley, I personally would much rather take a MV class than the awful CS 61 series.... It is my understanding with AccuTerm and other tools the end user can see a GUI anyway; I believe there is one available or in development for the product we use but since we still have dumb terminals in the field we can't use it just yet. I must be the exception rather than the rule but as I become more learned in actual MV programming I would be happy to write articles outlining why it captured my interest and how to best raise awareness of this well-kept secret and get other geeks from my generation interested in carrying the torch. Gabe On 5/11/07, MAJ Programming <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for any college courses for MV. > > I have 2 kids, aged 20 & 17. When the 20 yr old was in 7th grade (7 years > ago) they were exposed to Microsoft Office items like Word, Excel, > PowerPoint, Publisher and even Access. Likewise for the 17 yr old more > recently. > > From that point forward, the kids are incredibly immersed in everything > GUI/windows/internet. The endless hours of IMing, downloading, surfing and > everything else GUI seems to point forward in the right direction. > > Thus, imagine a college student considering such courses as Cisco > Certification, MCSE and other highly visible entities also considering an > MV > course if it were offered. Upon the first day they would quickly drop the > course as MV offers neither an entertainable/WYSIWYG environment, a > familiar > data structure (to those weened on everything MS), a practical purpose for > the individual nor any seemingly useful employment opportunities. > > Sorry for the dark cloud but I can't imagine even the most purposeful > young > adult considering MV. I teach the Computer merit badge in the Boy Scouts > and > even that course outline is heavily MS. I even took the brightest kid in > my > class, a senior at a local High-Tech (Gifted & Talented) high school and > fired up one of my D3 systems to show him how I make a living. > > I spent way too much time trying to make analogies in MV to what I know he > knows about MS Access. This kid is Cisco Certified from his school and > capable of understanding the MV model. But since it was different, it was > an > uphill battle to illustrate some of its superior features. > > I saw the look in his eyes that he was being polite in letting me speak > but > he was clearly not interested in something that looks like DOS. While I > know > that there are many 4GL's and GUI overlays for MV, it still is a huge > amount > of command-line stuff. > > We are the best kept secret in the computer business. Virtually zero > people > have heard of Pick, MV or any of the old or present flavors. Yes, > everyone's > heard of IBM but that's about it. Honeywell makes air conditioners, > Mcdonnel > Douglass makes airplanes and Sanyo makes consumer electronics. > > I believe there is a delicate balance between proficient MV programmers > and > MV environments. The newer MV programmers may have gotten thrust into > supporting a MV environment when their employers added that slight > responsibility to their otherwise IT (network/Ms/unix) list. > > I'm sure actual mileage may differ but not by much. I'm glad I'm an > independent programmer as a few of my full-time MV programmer > acquaintenances are now looking at their MV jobs disappearing with each MV > system being replaced. Hopefully they are professionally versed in other > environments as I am endeavouring as well. > > My 3 cents > Mark Johnson > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Charles Barouch" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 11:24 AM > Subject: MV Books (Formerly: [U2] Incubator - News from the board) > > > > Dawn, > > What I really need is your plenty potent Professorial powers to get > > more colleges willing to teach the course once we have the textbook > read. > > - Chuck > > > > Dawn Wolthuis wrote: > > > Very cool, Chuck. If you need a reader, you know where I live... (and > > > if it happens to be one that someone else started, then I've already > > > read some if it) > > > > > > cheers! --dawn > > > > > > -- > > > > Charles Barouch ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) > > www.KeyAlly.com (718) 762-3884 x 1 > > P. O. Box 540957, Queens, NY 11354 > > ------- > > u2-users mailing list > > [email protected] > > To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ > ------- > u2-users mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ ------- u2-users mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/
