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Reprinted from PC Magazine, issue 3/93, pp. 93. Lotus, Move Forward or Die!
Improv was originally coded for the NeXT machine and has recently been ported to Windows. Insiders expect the Windows version to ship in the first or second quarter of 1993. It should be an incredible success if marketed correctly. Unfortunately, it looks as if Lotus is internally hog-tied by an infrastructure of 1-2-3 diehards the same way Apple was nearly strangled by Apple II loyalists. Luckily, Steve Jobs at Apple had a personal stake in sinking the Apple II and pushing the Macintosh forward. There’s no evidence that Jim Manzi at Lotus has the same drive or motivation to get Lotus out of its rut. The company’s tombstone will read “1-2-3 and out!” Lotus was the king of spreadsheets, and was rightly the leader, as it dominated the entire market. Disregarding Improv, nobody would call Lotus a leader in the field it pioneered anymore. People would cite Excel or Quattro Pro as the leading spreadsheet program. The long-term winner in this battle is Microsoft, which can unload Windows plus Excel for such a low site-license price that few companies can resist. And why should anyone care that they’re using Excel as opposed to 1-2-3? Spreadsheets are pretty much the same, aren’t they? Not really, if you throw the dubiously named Improv for Windows into the batch. This is a completely new and modern model for spreadsheets. There is not one person in the industry who will say a bad thing about Improv. It introduces a great new concept: It releases the user from the rigidity of cell locations as variables. Don’t read about it. Get a demonstration. It’s clearly the easiest spreadsheet to edit and restructure. Furthermore, neither Microsoft nor Borland has anything like it. It could trigger a new spreadsheet revolution and put Lotus back on track in its core business. Unfortunately, Improv competes with 1-2-3, and this upsets a large contingent of middle managers and dinosaurs within Lotus who will fight for their turf. On a recent trip to London I was amazed to find out that the 1-2-3 cabal is so thick within the company that efforts to promote other products overseas are met with increased resistance. Only recently has Lotus done much promotion of non-1-2-3 products. Magellan was given an early boost, then left to languish. Lotus still doesn’t know how to sell its pioneering program, Lotus Notes, and Agenda has already been shelved. Now there’s a rumor that any salesperson going to a company to demonstrate Improv must take a watchdog from the 1-2-3 group along to make sure nothing bad is said about 1-2-3. Whether or not this is true, the 1-2-3 cabal apparently had its way at Comdex, too, with Improv being shown at one lone station in the farthest reach of the booth. If Borland or Microsoft had this technology, it would have been the highlight of the vendor’s booth. Lotus has been showing signs of life, with effective new advertising for its business graphics products and other core products. Still, the evidence is mounting that the marketing of Improv will be sheepish as the bureaucracy at Lotus finds a way to derail a fabulous product. This product is Lotus’s Macintosh, just as 1-2-3 is its Apple II. Imagine where Apple would be if it were still pushing the Apple II line and leaving the Mac to languish. I hope Lotus will bet the company on the future and retake its rightful position. The way Apple did. Lotus’s Improv could trigger a spreadsheet revolution – if the company doesn’t derail it first. | ||
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