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Portable computers
Portable computers About three million portable computers are now in use by ‘professionals’ in the USA according to a report from Frost & Sullivan. Prices are expected to drop further in this market, even as the technology improves, with a 9.3% growth predicted for shipments between 1985 and 1990. briefcase-sized portables, The weighing 9-12 lb, are likely to ex-
perience the greatest market growth, estimated at 19% over the same period. The report is tempered by more conservative estimates of growth if sales remain flat. Prices are expected to fall for all types of portable, from hand-held to luggable computers. An average 15% per year from 1985 is expected to come off the prices as technology -
Factorydata collection Worldwide demand for factory data collection systems is rising by about a third every year. Such systems follow work-in-progress from delivery of raw materials through production to warehousing and shipping. Value of shipments in 1985 was $117.3M, according to Frost & Sullivan, and will rise to $576.9M in 1990. It is suggested that 1987 will be a particularly good year for this industry as this relatively new market becomes better defined. The report discusses what makes a
factory data collection system. It is a system containing input devices, such as wands and scanners, and a central processor with memory and storage. It has communications ports so that it can be linked to a variety of host systems. Its software is dedicated to factory data collections and it can be used standalone or linked to an online system working in batch mode or real time. (Frost & Sullivan Inc., 106 Fulton St, New York, NY 100380 2786, USA)
Microcomputersupplies Paper is not likely to lose its place in the office in the foreseeable future. In fact, of all computer consumables, such as printer ribbons and floppy discs, paper sales are expected to grow the most over the next five years. The greatest culprit of this growth of paper use is the microcomputer. An annual total of 449B sheets of paper, worth nearly $5B will be used by micros by 1990. Altogether consumables exceeded computer $13M in 1985, with sales projected to reach $24B by 1990.
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becomes cheaper. Users are demanding added functions for their portable computers, wanting to have compactness with a quality screen, 256 kbyte memory, disc drives etc. Technology is developing to answer these requirements . The report concludes optimistically, that the diverse portable computer market has numerous niches and applications needs, and is ripe for capture by the right machine with the right price/performance ratio. (Frost and Sullivan Inc., 106 F&on Street, New York, NY 10038-2786, USA) 0
The installed base of microcomputers is expected to double by 1990, approaching 57M units. At the same time, flexible disc drives will be replaced by hard disc drives in many applications, so that the ratio of flexible to hard disc drive will fall from 3:l to 2:l. Although 5.25 in discs will account for 83% of diskette sales, according to the report, the trend is still towards 3.5 in discs. (Frost & Sullivan Inc., 106 Fulton Street, New York, NY 10038-2786, USA) 0
Documentation standards Documentation is still not as good as it should be, although there have been improvements recently, says UK documentation house, Digitext. In a national survey, the company asked computer manufacturers and software houses how they produce their documentation and how much they spend on it. According to Digitext, senior managers now expect documentation to be a valuable tool in selling and products, but few supporting companies can actually say how much they spend on writing, producing and printing their documentation, or how they should review and test it. Companies are aware of ways in which their documentation could be improved, although on the whole they satisfied with reasonably are standards. Online documentation and new technology such as graphics software and laser printers are seen as important factors in improving the presentation of information. This could make documentation more ‘user-directed’ with increasing costs massively. (Digitext, 98 High St, Thame, Oxon L7 OX9 3EH, UK)
data processing
perience the greatest market growth, estimated at 19% over the same period. The report is tempered by more conservative estimates of growth if sales remain flat. Prices are expected to fall for all types of portable, from hand-held to luggable computers. An average 15% per year from 1985 is expected to come off the prices as technology -
Factorydata collection Worldwide demand for factory data collection systems is rising by about a third every year. Such systems follow work-in-progress from delivery of raw materials through production to warehousing and shipping. Value of shipments in 1985 was $117.3M, according to Frost & Sullivan, and will rise to $576.9M in 1990. It is suggested that 1987 will be a particularly good year for this industry as this relatively new market becomes better defined. The report discusses what makes a
factory data collection system. It is a system containing input devices, such as wands and scanners, and a central processor with memory and storage. It has communications ports so that it can be linked to a variety of host systems. Its software is dedicated to factory data collections and it can be used standalone or linked to an online system working in batch mode or real time. (Frost & Sullivan Inc., 106 Fulton St, New York, NY 100380 2786, USA)
Microcomputersupplies Paper is not likely to lose its place in the office in the foreseeable future. In fact, of all computer consumables, such as printer ribbons and floppy discs, paper sales are expected to grow the most over the next five years. The greatest culprit of this growth of paper use is the microcomputer. An annual total of 449B sheets of paper, worth nearly $5B will be used by micros by 1990. Altogether consumables exceeded computer $13M in 1985, with sales projected to reach $24B by 1990.
496
becomes cheaper. Users are demanding added functions for their portable computers, wanting to have compactness with a quality screen, 256 kbyte memory, disc drives etc. Technology is developing to answer these requirements . The report concludes optimistically, that the diverse portable computer market has numerous niches and applications needs, and is ripe for capture by the right machine with the right price/performance ratio. (Frost and Sullivan Inc., 106 F&on Street, New York, NY 10038-2786, USA) 0
The installed base of microcomputers is expected to double by 1990, approaching 57M units. At the same time, flexible disc drives will be replaced by hard disc drives in many applications, so that the ratio of flexible to hard disc drive will fall from 3:l to 2:l. Although 5.25 in discs will account for 83% of diskette sales, according to the report, the trend is still towards 3.5 in discs. (Frost & Sullivan Inc., 106 Fulton Street, New York, NY 10038-2786, USA) 0
Documentation standards Documentation is still not as good as it should be, although there have been improvements recently, says UK documentation house, Digitext. In a national survey, the company asked computer manufacturers and software houses how they produce their documentation and how much they spend on it. According to Digitext, senior managers now expect documentation to be a valuable tool in selling and products, but few supporting companies can actually say how much they spend on writing, producing and printing their documentation, or how they should review and test it. Companies are aware of ways in which their documentation could be improved, although on the whole they satisfied with reasonably are standards. Online documentation and new technology such as graphics software and laser printers are seen as important factors in improving the presentation of information. This could make documentation more ‘user-directed’ with increasing costs massively. (Digitext, 98 High St, Thame, Oxon L7 OX9 3EH, UK)
data processing