Types of software:                              <sum09 1 10>
==================

        Every five years, a new class of software appears to support mental
        processes beyond human capabilities.  Consider this:

    **  Databases ... a 20-year-old method for manipulating very large lists.

    **  Word processors ... a 15-year-old method for editing planes of text.

    **  Spreadsheets ... a 10-year-old concept for changing numbers in tables.

    **  Idea processors ... a five-year-old MaxThink <link61> method using
                outlines for conceptual, structural, and perceptual thinking.

    **  Network processors ... a two-year-old Houdini <link62> method using
                networks for generalizing, abstracting, and checking
                completeness in thinking.
Value
=====   Rather than putting a bigger crank on adding machines, opening file
        drawers faster, or typing more beautifully, significant software
        should change your view of your world or yourself, or put relevant
        knowledge at your fingertips.  Textual databases <link26> and
        expert systems <link64> can't do either task.  Check it out!