David Lang Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 As I've been writing about various aspects of Accordance's 25th Anniversary, I'm struck with just how extraordinary a feat this is. Just consider for a moment all the applications you have on your computer. Now… How many of those date back to before the release of Windows 95 and Mac OS 8? Of those that do go back that far, eliminate the ones by huge companies like Microsoft and Adobe. Of those that are left, how many have been in continuous development during that entire time? In other words, I want you to eliminate any that are essentially newer programs which have replaced older programs of the same name. Of those that remain, how many are native on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android? In other words, eliminate any software ported from one platform to another. On my computer, only Accordance goes back 25 years in an unbroken line. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Weaks Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Very impressive, indeed (though pretty sure BBedit on my machine beats Accordance by a couple years) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Buck Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Very impressive, indeed (though pretty sure BBedit on my machine beats Accordance by a couple years) It doesn’t suck, to be sure… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Dornfeld Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Yup, Napster is long gone at this point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukfraser Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 (edited) I use sibelius which has a fairly long history from 93 but a bit more shakey in recent times since the finn brothers sold it though ive only been using it since about 2003 (which is now 16 years! Part of that was because i had tried a competitor product which was so unintuitive, i gave up looking at scoring software for many years and it wasnt until i read a review that i tried some more user friendly software ) but the original dev team are still going, just with a competitor, but thats yet another different story... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibelius_(scorewriter) I maintain a windows xp pc so i can still read my ami pro files (i still think it was better than word) which i used from the late 80's and i think morphed into the free open office app but became another word look alike clone with the uniqe features removed. But you are right, whatever happened to borland with quatro pro, or lotus with their 123, visio was aquired by Microsoft. Happy memories. Edited February 28, 2019 by ukfraser Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Fidel Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 (edited) David several bible software companies meet all or most of your criteria: Logos 1992, OliveTree 1988 (I think for palm but now has multi-platform programs), Laridian (Pocket Bible ). To be honest, I don't use many other apps other than Bible Software and word processing. I started with OnlineBible and they are still around... From 5 1/2 floppies to digital multi-platform. The bible software industry has been quite diligent in surviving the changes in technology. Praise God. I don't want to throw shade at Accordance's accomplishments, because they are significant, but you asked. Edited February 28, 2019 by John Fidel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Voth Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 I have BBEdit as well. I also have GraphicConverter, which Wikipedia says came out in 1992. Re: OliveTree Wikipedia says it came out for Palm devices in 1998. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel Brown Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 John, are you sure some of those programs are not "essentially newer programs which have replaced older programs of the same name"? I don't know their full developmental history, but I know many programs go through full re-writes, while retaining the same name. Again, I'm not saying they are rewrites, nor am I saying they aren't necessarily fantastic programs, but it is a trait I have seen in many, many apps that "seem" to have been around a while. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Lang Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 I didn't realize BBEdit went back that far. Looking at their development history, it actually looks like they made many of the same choices we did when it came to adapting to technological changes. Some of the others mentioned may be more in the category of same name but substantially different codebase. One interesting thing to observe from these examples is how niche most of these long surviving programs are: Bible software, music notation, a text editor aimed primarily at developers, etc. Specialized markets like these don't generally attract the attention of the huge developers that tend to buy or gobble up smaller developers, but they have a large enough user base to support the developers willing to serve them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Mansfield Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 If I could go back in time 25 or 30 years, I’d love to avoid buying certain programs that would later go away. I mean, software used to be more expensive overall (especially when adjusted for inflation) than it is today. Here are some programs for which I’d like to get my time and money back: WordPerfect. Oh, I know WordPerfect is still around, but are they really? “Current” version has never even been updated for unicode fonts. I spent lots of time learning and using WP5.1 for DOS. GeoWorks Ensemble. This came out about the same time as Windows 3.0. Windows didn’t have usable fonts until TrueType in Windows 3.1. GeoWorks Ensemble had beautiful fonts and because the software would pull paper back in the printer and write over the same content two or three times, you could get good-looking copy even out of a 9-pin dot matrix printer. Unfortunately, by the time they got around to releasing a developer kit, Windows 3.1 was released and the rest is history. I still have GeoWorks Ensemble files I cannot open. GreekTools and HebrewTools from Parsons Technology. Both of these were DOS apps, that to my knowledge never made the leap to any GUI operating system. Both were pretty cool in that not only did they include basic language tutorials, they also had basic word processors for including Hebrew and Greek text back when that was a very difficult thing to do. I probably have a few orphaned files in this format, but at least it was never as bad for me as it was for my first Greek prof (who shall go unnamed) who proudly proclaimed in class one day, “I finally converted all my handouts, quizzes, and tests to the word processor in GreekTutor!” Ouch. HP NewWave. Yes, I actually had and used this. OS/2 Warp. This was the only version of OS/2 I ever used. If IBM would give me a refund, I’d gladly take it. I disposed of the software at a church white elephant party two decades later. No one had a clue what it was. Best memory of OS/2, though--an ethics prof at the seminary I attended in the 90s asked me, “When are they going to release a Bible software program that will run under OS/2?” My unstated answer: “Never?" IBM Hollywood. Presentation graphics software that was way ahead of PowerPoint. Apple bought them and put them under the Claris label. This was a Windows-only program never ported to the Mac. There was one update I think, and then it died. I still have teaching slides (which I printed out on transparency film) that I can’t open today. Ventura Publisher. Corel bought them and then... nothing. I still have files I can’t open today. Corel is kinda where good software goes to die. Aldus PageMaker. Bought by Adobe and then sacrificed in favor of InDesign. Have lots of old PageMaker files. MS Money. I’ve used Quicken since 2002. HTML editors: PageMill, FrontPage, GoLive. Yes, I paid good money for all of those. All those various communication programs purchased for at least $100 in the 90s to connect to bulletin boards. All those apps for PalmOS I paid for such as Quicken Mobile. All those apps for the Windows Phone I used over the summer of 2015. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michel Gilbert Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Hey Rick, There is a WordPerfect Tutorial from 1987 at https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yYWPHkCPhe4, for absolute newbies on a computer. It’s pretty hilarious at times looking back at it now. Regards, Michel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Dornfeld Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 I just realized something great about Accordance and the Accordance Forums: no ads, lol. I have never run into an ad for Accordance ever; and, no ads on the forum, which is because it's company-owned, but ofc still a plus - not to mention there's not a whole lot of under the hood stuff going on on this forum that is completely unnecessary. Am I anywhere near the mark? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alistair Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Almost everything I post here is completely unnecessary. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnABarnett Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 I use sibelius which has a fairly long history from 93 but a bit more shakey in recent times since the finn brothers sold it though ive only been using it since about 2003 (which is now 16 years! Part of that was because i had tried a competitor product which was so unintuitive, i gave up looking at scoring software for many years and it wasnt until i read a review that i tried some more user friendly software ) but the original dev team are still going, just with a competitor, but thats yet another different story... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sibelius_(scorewriter) ukfraser, I can't remember if we've had this discussion before, so forgive me if we have. I am aware of but not at all familiar with ScoreWriter, but the London developers of Sibelius led by Daniel Spreadbury went to Steinberg and have created a very professional (and professionally priced) product called Dorico. In case you haven't looked at it yet... https://new.steinberg.net/dorico/ . I had used Notion before, and continued to use Notion even after buying the initial Dorico release on a crossgrade offer. It's hard to migrate from something you're used to to something you're not, especially if it's a sophisticated, complex product. But the release of version two last year had me doing all my work in Dorico. I eventually got used to it. Give it another version or two and, in this reporter's humble opinion, it will be the best out there in most every way imaginable. It already is that in some areas. I'm sure I sound like I'm shilling for it, but that's not my intent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnABarnett Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Re: longtime software other than programs like Word and Excel, I'd have to say my longest is 22 years with a text-based MLB baseball simulator called Diamond Mind Baseball. I still use it regularly. It gives me something to do when, as is often the case, I don't feel up to much else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukfraser Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Thanks john, yes, i was thinking of you and dorico as i typed my response!!!! Im waiting for more guitar support but am on the dorico and scoring note mailing list so keeping informed of progress and watching with interest(but not much funds). ;o) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnABarnett Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 Thanks john, yes, i was thinking of you and dorico as i typed my response!!!! Im waiting for more guitar support but am on the dorico and scoring note mailing list so keeping informed of progress and watching with interest(but not much funds). ;o) I'd never have been able to buy it without the early crossgrade price, which was $299. Thinking of me??? Well thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabian Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 Very impressive, indeed (though pretty sure BBedit on my machine beats Accordance by a couple years) But BBedit is only for Mac. So the question of David is only a part fulfilled. BTW they released a new version which is now Sandboxed. Would this make sense for the Accordance too? Greetings Fabian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Allison Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 BTW they released a new version which is now Sandboxed. Would this make sense for the Accordance too? I believe sandboxing is a requirement to be in the App Store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimpleTheist Posted March 2, 2019 Share Posted March 2, 2019 I have several products that can trace their lineage back 25+ years in consistent production. Though the product has changed hands a couple of times in between. Corel Painshop being one. Still, it is impressive to having been around for 25 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Bennett Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 (edited) Ventura Publisher. Corel bought them and then... nothing. I still have files I can’t open today. Corel is kinda where good software goes to die. I can open Ventura files on a version that runs on a Windows XP Virtual PC on my Windows 7 virtual install on MacOS. Yes, you read that correct. It’s a story in and of itself, which made possible the release of Whitacre’s Patristic Greek Reader. Also, PageMaker files can be opened in InDesign CS6 (or earlier, but not later) and converted to .indd. Edited March 4, 2019 by Rick Bennett 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Mansfield Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 I can open Ventura files on a version that runs on a Windows XP Virtual PC on my Windows 7 virtual install on MacOS. Yes, you read that correct. It’s a story in and of itself, which made possible the release of Whitacre’s Patristic Greek Reader. I believe all my old Ventura files are church newsletters from the mid-90s, but if I need one converted, I’ll let you know ;-) Also, PageMaker files can be opened in InDesign CS6 (or earlier, but not later) and converted to .indd. Yes, I converted a few “have to” files back when I could but never got around to all of them. Oh well. Both of the above programs had strong followings at one time. I’m sure it was fairly small, but there was a decent-sized Ventura following when Corel bought them. Although most professional DTP work was done on Macs back in those days, at one point, Ventura Publisher was probably the most sophisticated program of its kind for Windows. And no doubt that PageMaker had millions of users, but Adobe needed InDesign to compete with Quark, so they killed off PageMaker. I also had Adobe FrameMaker for Mac, which never made it over to OS X, though there is a current Windows version. Up until a few years ago, any PDF manual from Apple was generated out of FrameMaker for the Mac, long after it was not possible to run it on any of the current Mac computers. I could only figure that the Apple documents department had a secret room of old Macs just for running FrameMaker that they kept secret from Steve Jobs and Tim Cook after him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottDF Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Vim, perl, LaTeX, and such are still here from way back, for me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Λύχνις Δαν Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Yep, still use vi almost daily. Thx D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Mansfield Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Anyone here use the academic word processor,Nota Bene (company page, Wikipedia)? You may or may not know that a number of the commentaries and other works we have in Accordance were originally written by the authors in Nota Bene. Off the top of my head, I think of anything by D. A. Carson, Dan Block, Mark Seifrid, and Klyne Snodgrass; but there would be many others). V. 1 of Nota Bene is dated to 1983. It is an academic fork from XyWrite, a word processor dating to 1982. I have a copy of it, but I’ve never used it extensively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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