Of free lunch and digital nonsense
Article Abstract:
Syncronys' $30 Softram 95 compression software fails to improve the performance or the memory space available to other programs, and the company is recalling the product. Syncronys advertising claims that Softram doubles available RAM from 4MB to 8MB and that it speeds up Windows performance. Softram was sold as a product for both Windows 3.x and Windows 95, but it does not work at all under Windows 95, prompting Microsoft to order Syncronys to stop using the 'Designed for Windows 95' logo. Syncronys executives say they are recalling Softram only to change the packaging, and that they will not alter the program. Still, independent tests reveal that Softram offers one benefit to Windows 3.x users, which is the ability to open more programs under extreme conditions. Its other capabilities, which include making a larger swap file, can be duplicated by Windows users without adding any programs to their operating systems.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1995
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From digital frustration to small-claims court
Article Abstract:
Broderbund Software has settled what it refers to as customer service issue, out of court for $2,000. The company is known as one of the more responsive organizations in the software industry, and has a 90 days refund policy that covers shipping costs as well as the cost of the product. Broderbund had a lawsuit filed against it in a Texas small claims court after a customer purchased a copy of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and was unable to load it on their PC. After numerous hours of attempting to get the software to work and several phone calls to technical support, the customer sent Broderbund a letter demanding either a corrected program disk or a monetary reimbursement for the time, effort and phones calls made attempting to get the defective program to work.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1997
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Just speaking plainly controls the machine
Article Abstract:
Dragon Systems' $695 Dragon Naturallyspeaking dictation software is the first speech recognition software that does not require the user to speak in pause between words or use discrete speech. One of the reasons Dragon Naturallyspeaking works so well is because it runs on computers that operate at a greater speed than was available in the past. The recommended machine is a 133-megahertz Pentium PC with either 32MB or 48MB of RAM and 60MB of hard disk storage. The software's dictionary contains over 30,000 words in its active dictionary and an additional 200,000 words in its back up dictionary. The company claims the software has an accuracy rate of 95%. Misunderstood words can be corrected easily as can mistakes made by the user.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1997
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