Dan Bricklin's Web Site: www.bricklin.com

Writings
This section has things I hope you'll find of interest. Some are demonstrations, others are text. Most I've written. Some are by others. They are listed here in reverse order of posting.

Applying a framework for choosing an application interface to today's Voice User Interfaces, comparing and contrasting with GUI and Command Line Interfaces.
The background of my talk and how it turned into a TEDx Talk on TED.com
The capabilities of tablets and the availability of huge, inexpensive, quickly accessed data stores, help us break out of the shackles of paper forms which are the legacy of punched cards.
The story behind the WatchBench iOS app for doing Apple Watch development using JavaScript on an iPhone.
An explanation of the new features in Alpha Anywhere that address the issues (applies to disconnected laptops, too).
Exploring the needs of one of the top concerns relating to business use of mobile devices
The story of how it came about
Some reactions to Walter Isaacson's request for comments about a rough draft of a section of his next book
Examining the need for responsive design centered on mobile business web apps written in HTML5 and their layout, including a video
HTML became the dominant way to deliver applications to the desktop. What is needed for that to happen in the mobile world? Looking at history, I believe that it will be the availability of easy to use authoring.
A video I took of the screen as Bob Frankston surfed the web in May 1994 with NCSA Mosaic
Alpha Anywhere lets a wide range of people develop mobile and other applications for businesses
The background behind Dan Bricklin joining Alpha Software as CTO in 2013.
Understanding how web languages are used for apps and how they work with native code.
New developments show the ongoing evolution of JavaScript, and libraries built in it, into a dominant platform for user interface programming
Additional devices and modes of use have entered the fray which business application developers need to deal with.
Video from Fall Comdex 1983 and how it came about.
In honor of the 35th anniversary of the Apple II, I posted a short excerpt from a documentary where Steve Jobs talks about the importance of the spreadsheet VisiCalc to the success of the Apple II.
The SAAS developer has special challenges brought on by the Apple iPad, smartphones, wide adoption of all sorts of flat panels, and varying levels of connectivity.
With the iPad you are the magician, not the audience.
It's more than just a big iPod touch or iPhone. Also a look at what makes a smartphone different than other devices.
A way to look at which companies advancing technology will affect and how.
New styles of interaction between people and computers, and how that will impact developers and designers.
The change brought about by new technology as felt during the Pete Seeger 90th birthday concert.
People should be able to ask and answer their own questions without you doing it for them or even anticipating the questions.
Works of fiction often serve as inspiration to innovators who then mold that vision in their own ways. What real people develop can improve upon the fanciful visions.
Repeated simple encounters (in person or electronically) help develop trust and friendships.
A discussion of the nature and use of gestures in a computer controlled by screen-contact and some of the issues with regards to developing standards.
Observations and thoughts following Dan Bricklin's participation as an expert witness in a patent trial in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
There are "must have" application areas and data files that will drive adoption of products. Many of them are far down the long tail of popularity. Serving a narrow, most popular set is a losing proposition.
A detailed description of what you see in your neighborhood, on the line near your house, on the side of your house, and inside when you get Verizon's FIOS Internet service.
There are principles that may be gleaned by looking at Normal Accident Theory and the 9/11 Commission Report that are helpful for software development.
Thoughts from a long-term blogger after two days of the DNC.
The structure and culture of a typical prepackaged software company is not attuned to the long-term needs of society for software that is part of its infrastructure. This essay discusses the ecosystem needed for development that better meets those needs.
A discussion of various ideas for using open source-style licensing for products from a small software developer
Email from a disabled person who read my essay about the Segway and is benefiting from buying one.
People pay for expressing themselves personally through style.
Common sense argues against widespread use of QOS techniques on the Internet. It is better to just get more capacity.
A copy of what used to be on the www.webphotojournals.com web site is now here on this web site in the webphotojournals subdirectory
Throughout history there have been a variety of ways that artists have gotten paid so they can create their work:Through an ecosystem which looks to a mixture of amateur, performance, patronage, and commission forms of payment. This essay explores that ecosystem.
Pictures and comments after visiting Atlanta where the Segway seems to fit in well with people downtown.
A discussion of PC tablet hardware and software from the 1990's, and why Microsoft's pushing of the new Tablet PCs will bring renewed innovation.
Given the slight dip in CD sales despite so many reasons for there to be a much larger drop, it seems that the effect of downloading, burning, and sharing is one of the few bright lights helping the music industry with their most loyal customers.
How the author constructs instructions to a computer, and how they can correctly anticipate the results, can affect acceptance of a system.
While large players and big media companies act like they are the main reason for the web and Internet and therefore should drive policy decisions, the numbers show that the contributions of the myriad of small players -- individuals, non-profits, and small businesses -- are crucial to the vitality of the web and its value to people.
When I write, I think that I'm writing to peers and to friends who are regular readers, as well as to people who are looking to learn something from a link they've followed provided by someone else whom they trust.
The value put on Start pages and ring tones are examples of mistaking a current property of a technology for something inherent.
You should look closely at disruptive technologies, and not just dismiss them out of hand.
The move to Internet services brings to the fore questions about where data is stored and what you can count on in the future.
Copy protection will break the chain of formal and informal archivists who are necessary to the long-term preservation of creative works.
There have been successes with eBusinesses when the selection is appropriately wide, enough details are available for purchase, and getting what you want is likely.
Small businesses are a large, diverse market needing web sites, but mainly for simple marketing purposes and not to be online catalogs "like Amazon".
The Internet has succeeded in becoming a tool that many regular people turn to in lieu of alternatives for communicating and for finding information.
The IBM PC is an example of a system designed by people very experienced in the field -- it was a revolution from within
First encounters with the IBM PC in 1980 and 1981, why the PC has taken over the role of the desk in our lives, and why it will continue to be important.
Transcript of Software Arts staff meeting on August 12, 1981, reading and reacting to the material from IBM announcing their new Personal Computer.
Looking at where there is computation, data storage, and input/output, at what is standard and what is custom, and at what is on a PC and what is on a shared managed server, helps the understanding of different systems.
There is a similarity between the pamphlets of the American Revolution and today's personal web sites.
Rather than make interacting with the computer act like a conversation with an assistant, make it like a tool you use yourself.
Learning to use things that are hard is part of being human.
Directories are important to the Internet and decisions about Napster and other systems are setting out the duties of those that run them.
There are many discussions relating to the Internet that involve directories, such as the DNS and Napster. This essay is a general discussion about such directories.
A description of the equipment I have at home with special discussion about 802.11b.
Homes and businesses will pay a reasonable amount of money for "always on" IP connectivity because they value it.
An example of a system that puts the appropriate intelligence at the right places, and uses the Internet in ways that show the future.
The recording industry needs to learn more from the software industry than just suing people involved in copying.
The simplification of restricting a network to computers you know, trust, and control is one method of dealing with trust issues in sharing, though there are still problems.
The success of Napster makes thinking about P2P important. Here are some issues.
Napster is an example of a manually-filled database that has found a way to use volunteer labor such that normal use increases its value.
Regular people are willing to pay money to interact with people they care about.
VisiCalc is an example of a pioneering product whose users could migrate their data forward to later products.
More IP comments from Bob Frankston, including his feelings about legislative involvement, along with my comments about his statement of IP connectivity.
The PC has stayed relevant by evolving its components.
Here are copies of email conversations with some students.
Links to articles for discussion about crafting communications policy that will be good to foster innovation.
Saying we'll just use normal trademark practices to solve the problems won't work. Here's why.
We take pictures for many reasons. Here is one very important one to understand.
It was the combination of many things including its "programming by example" user interface and its influence on others that made VisiCalc special.
Bob Frankston argues that a pure IP infrastructure is important to fully exploit the potential of the Internet.
The script, with examples and slides, of my "The MBA Who Mistook His Business Plan for a Web-Site" keynote speech at Seybold Seminars.
Who gets the money when you pass on a recommendation?
How do you let people know you were the author when the email gets forwarded around the world without attribution?
Here is a recording of Adam Osborne from the West Coast Computer Faire in March 1980 commenting on the state of personal computing and giving Bob and me an award for VisiCalc.
As an example of how to make a document more readable on-screen, at Trellix we republished the Starr Report taking advantage of Trellix 2.0's features.
We didn't patent VisiCalc at Software Arts because you really couldn't patent software prior to 1981, and VisiCalc was shown to the public in 1979.
The history of intellectual property protection and software has an anomaly that brings strong reactions to software patents.
A parody of client-side Java applets shown at Demo'96
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