1981

Having finished reading, Six Disciplines: Execution Revolution, by Gary Harpst (a NY Times bestselling business book), I am not impressed. It's difficult for me to fathom why anyone in any business would read this book for any reason. But then, I guess I'm not in business . . . so that's that.

About the only thing I took away from this book was Harpst's accurate portrayal of 1981 as a "leap year" in technological advance. That was the year, and accurately so, I think, when the PC overtook the typewriter as the tool of choice in business, education, and elsewhere. Sure, there were PC's prior to 1981, but the PC just didn't invade our space until that year in any significant numbers.

By the time I arrived at Duke University in 1982, there were a few students who were using PCs, but these were the rich kids, and there were a few professors by 1984/85 who had discovered the PC and were using them for research and more. The Duke library still had a gigantic card file in those days (which is what I used to find books). Not a computer anywhere in sight.

At least Harpst awakened a memory for me in that regard. But I can't believe I read his book. Excuse me now while I look for a donut to eat. I have better things to do with my time.