Ancient computer history (was Re: Word Processors)

[Aahz Maruch]

[p&e]

In article <6epmnb$gre$1...@gw.ddb.com>,
Pamela Dean Dyer-Bennet <pd...@gw.ddb.com> wrote:
>
>I use Borland's Sprint configured to look like epsilon, which is an
>emacs lookalike. I'm used to it and everybody can just leave me
>alone. Unless I'm collaborating with somebody I don't care what
>anybody else uses.

Ah, a Keeper of the Flame. You've probably heard this story before,
little Grasshopper, but I cannot resist telling it again:

Once upon a time, there was an editor called MINCE (MINCE Is Not
Complete Emacs), a formatter called Scribble (a subset of a powerful
mainframe formatter called Scribe), and a compiler called BDS C. These
three programs were available in a package called Amethyst, and they
worked on CP/M.

When the evil IBM PC came out, BDS C was dropped, and the package was
ported and renamed Final Word, then Final Word II. Borland purchased
the rights in, um, 1987(?), and renamed the package yet again to
Sprint. It was quite successful for a, ah, brief period of time, but
the lack of integrated formatting killed it. Unfortunately, Borland
didn't have a clue -- they could have made a killing marketing Sprint as
an editor.

Epilog:

Borland failed to learn from its mistakes. They purchased Brief,
another emacs-alike that diverged from the base a bit later than MINCE.
They killed Brief just a few weeks later.

{x-posted to comp.os.cpm.amethyst and comp.os.cpm, followup back to rasfc}
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