Farewell then to a small piece of computer history

Net Results: The first computer I ever owned was one of those first boxy Macintoshes of the late '80s, a beige (there was only beige!) Mac SE with a double disk drive rather than a hard drive.

Any Mac owner of the time quickly got to know all the little third-party software developers and their products because then, unlike now, almost nothing came "bundled" with your new purchase.

Microsoft itself was a mid-size young company then and was eager to make software for the Apple market (my copy of Word fitted on a single floppy disk and plenty of documents could be stored in beside it).

But perhaps the best-known company among Mac folks was Casady & Greene, a software publisher that offered lots of great little programs created by other developers.

C&G sold Conflict Catcher, an essential Mac tool that let you resolve problems with your operating system in a simple and elegant way.

Since 1984 (a potent year for Apple fans as that's when the Mac launched), C&G was always one of the larger stands at MacWorld events, and always busy. I bought my first copy of Conflict Catcher years ago at a San Francisco MacWorld, and have been on the company's mailing list ever since.

So I was saddened to get an email letter from the company's chief executive announcing that the company was to close.

I knew it had been having problems, because in the past year it had said so forthrightly in the newsletters, and had appealed to customers to continue to support its developers and its products.

I liked that about the company - it spoke to customers directly and in a homely way which made you remember there were people, not faceless corporate middle management, at the other end of that newsletter.

But as Apple and other computer manufacturers increasingly bundled software with new machines, consumers chose not to buy third-party products.

Some people wondered why Apple didn't buy out Conflict Catcher, but that wouldn't have been the solution for C&G, I don't think - companies want to get a decent margin selling good products, not get single payments for the rights to have their product bundled.

C&G sent out this poignant announcement this week: "It is with profound regret that we inform you that Casady & Greene will close its doors on July 3rd, 2003, after 19 years in the software publishing business. We have endured many industry downturns, but the last three years have presented a series of economic disasters from which we were unable to rebound."

You can read more at its website: www.casadyg.com.

A highly unusual approach, but then, it was a highly unusual company that always remained connected to that feel of community from the early days of home computing. Farewell, C&G, a small bit of computing history in itself.

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Following the inspiring success of the Special Olympics, this is a good time to mention again an important conference and opportunity for technology companies to get involved in helping people with disabilities.

From August 31st to September 3rd, Ireland will be hosting the 7th European Conference for the Advancement of Assistive Technology, which is all about how technology can make life easier, more interesting, more challenging and more productive for people with all types of disability.

But the organisers are facing extra challenges themselves because news about the conference has been hard to hear above the publicity for the Games. And Government budgets are also tight.

The organisers could use some industry help to sponsor elements of the conference, from keynotes to individual sessions to lunches, and to lend support in all kinds of ways.

They also have a major exhibition of assistive technologies at UCD's O'Reilly Hall that will be open to the public during the conference, and there are spaces for additional exhibitors.

The Central Remedial Clinic (CRC), which is involved in organising the conference, is also working on a programme where companies or individuals can donate late-model working computers to the CRC to pass along to needy individuals. Lots of opportunity there for companies and people who love to teach to make a difference in an area where tech can really help change lives. More information on the conference is online at www.atireland.ie/aaate or contact Mr Ger Craddock at graddock@crc.ie or (01) 8057523.