An Apple Story

"Before the Maine Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) acquired computers for business purposes in the early '80's, we went to visit the New Hampshire AOC which was up and running with Wang computers. My NH counterpart had gone to Massachusetts, had lunch with Dr. Wang and was convinced Wang was the way to go. The guy was considered something of a whiz kid in court automation and gave lectures with a nifty slide show around the country.

We chose Macintosh.

After we made a commitment to Mac - much to the dismay of the State House crowd who were virtually in bed with IBM - the Attorney General's Office decided to automate and spent Big Bucks on - Wang. The Legislature needed word processing to automate its legislative document production and it chose - Wang. It automated its legislative information system with Big Bucks spent on Big Blue.

We stuck with Macs and suffered not a little ridicule and criticism because of it. We scrounged for the money we spent on computers, peanuts by comparison with what the two other branches spent. We quietly put together a network of Macs across the state so the Maine Supreme Court could circulate its opinions in draft to its justices, who have chambers in their home county court houses, long before the Executive Branch had remote communication with its satellite offices. But, it was politically inappropriate to point it out.

None of the Wang shops survived into the '90's. The Legislature's Big Blue information system was main frame based and thus, inflexible. It too fell of its own weight. A great deal of money went quietly down the drain. The Macs chugged on.

The Maine court system continues today as essentially Mac-based, with most of its original Mac equipment still functioning. As far as I know, the state-wide link of Macs for judicial opinion writing is still in place. In retrospect, what a bargain!

Apple, the new kid on the block in the early '80's which was treated disdainfully by supporters of Wang and Big Blue, today is surging ahead. Its equipment and software are on the cutting edge. Wang no longer makes equipment or software, barely survives bankruptcy as a service provider to be now sold. IBM isn't a major player in the PC field any more but is a major chip supplier to Apple. An interesting turn of events I must say."