I admit I had no clue as to what was really going on. My interests were elsewhere and I was just dilettanting my way through computers as I was so many other things in those days. The first time I met somebody who was talking about going to work for Apple I thought they meant the company that owned the Beatles catalog. I have some hazy memory of somebody (maybe that person) talking about a multilevel marketing scheme - like Amway - to sell Apples. That must have been in the 70s but I have to assume it was before Hambrick and Quist came up with the venture capital. I don't know if it was a real thing or somebody was just joking about it because at the time "personal computer" resonated with me like "personal aircraft carrier" <g>

I got an Apple early ( I think it was the 32k version ) and salivated over TRS80s and wrote my first program in Applesoft but was still pretty much in my adrenaline junkie incarnation then. A lot of silicon valley guys with money to spend were partying where and how I was and taking flying lessons etc. so I actually met most of my "computer" friends socially and sort of picked up the ambiance by osmosis. I knew Gary Kildahl in his incarnation as pilot without any idea of what CPM was and didn't even really know he was a computer millionaire until he started hosting a TV show in SF (and later became famous as the guy who stood up IBM in Santa Cruz so when they went to see Gates about Basic they still needed an OS) <s>

It wasn't until the early 90s that I could make a list of 100 chances I had to get rich before 1985 and didn't know it <bg>


>I never said Jobs is warm and cuddly. If he is, he has been hiding it well.
>
>Cool that you were there at the start of the revolution. Every history of the early days mentions the Home Brew computer club and the other things going on in the Bay Area.
>
>>But Jobs' hubris is the reason Apple missed the boat in the early 80s and Balmer and Gates didn't. He was all about controlling everything. Gates and Balmer only wanted to control what was important (the OS) and used IBM's hubris to make that possible. So they won. Jobs wanted what IBM wanted - he just wanted a different winner. But I think he would have been just as happy hustling the Ronco Bass-o-matic <g>
>>
>>I only met Jobs twice. Wozniak was more accessible. I think I told you I still have a cancelled check for $40 I wrote to Woz at Comdex or whatever they were calling the local computer swap meet - in the San Jose Armory about 1979. He used to get promo software from vendors for the Apple II and sit there at a table and sell it at computer shows <g> (I think he was already a gazillionaire) He was a prototypical genius geek but seemed more interested in cool ideas than being cool.
>>
>>I used to go to the Homebrew Computer Club meeting in PaloAlto. Woz would give 2 hour presentations only math doctoral candidates could understand and do it with a sense of little kid excitement that was infectious, even if you didn't have a clue what he was talking about.
>>
>>Jobs came across like the kind of guys that were hustling Erhard Seminar Training (hence my inability to shake the Scientology image.) and appeared to be most concerned with what people thought of him. Never spoke with Jobs so this is just an impression based on very little bit I always had the feeling that if I knew them I'd like Woz a lot better. <s>
>>
>>>In terms of being heavy handed at times, there is a grain of truth to that. But their jobs are so different you can't push the analogy very far. Jobs runs a commercial business which creates and sells products to consumers. Having been a key force behind the original Apple, the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone -- jury is still out on the iPad -- he deserves to be called a visionary. Goodell is an administrator who reports to the owners of 32 NFL teams. The NFL does not create products, or even really sell them. The league markets itself, it doesn't sell in a retail sense. The NFL is basically the same product it was decades ago, other than some rule and franchise changes. Jobs and Goodell have two entirely different jobs and roles.
>>>
>>>If Jobs decrees that Apple employees cannot do certain things on their own time, away from the job, or be suspended or fired, you will have a real analogy. If Goodell ever creates anything (much less a series of culture shaping new products), you will have a real analogy.
>>>
>>>>I wonder if Microsoft bought enough politicians and bureaucrats they could get the justice dept to go after Apple the way Oracle, Sun etc got them to go after MS ?
>>>>
>>>>(I find it amusing you thing Roger Goodell is a fascist but Steve Jobs is a "visionary" <g> )
>>>>
>>>>>And look how badly it's working out ;-)
>>>>>
>>>>>It's easy to say open system good, closed system bad, but in fact the iPhone developer platform offers advantages to developers as well. As evidenced by how many of them have signed up.
>>>>>
>>>>>>Really, pretty stupid decision.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Mel
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Just curious, what kind of development do they have for iPhone and iPad since they so closely tied to OS X? That would be a great feature if they have that.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>They can't have anything for that given that Apple just changed their development policies to disallow development with anything but Apple provided dev tools for iPhone/iPad.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Great policy decision - sure way to piss of the very people on which apple depends to supply the after market and desirability of these devices.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>+++ Rick ---
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>I don't develop for the enterprise, my clients are small to mid-size looking for solutions that work and are cost effective. Few if any know that I'm currently using VFP so they rely on me to choose a product that allows me to develop solutions in the tradition of VFP.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Real Software may be a small company... so am I... but they are delivering a product that has the features and flexibility of VFP with the added benefit of cross platform delivery. Anyone look at the market cap of Apple lately??? They just went passed Microsoft. I know, I know... that doesn't mean that they are going to over take the Windows world anytime soon, but if you can develop and deploy a business application for the Mac, I would wager that you'll sell more to the Mac community (because of the limited competition) than you will in the Windows world.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Real Software allows me to do both... satisfy my large Windows user-base, plus begin tapping into the Mac community as it continues to gain market share.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>One of the things I've learned during my 25 years in business is that you need to anticipate market trends or you most assuredly miss out on an opportunity. For the last 3 years I've been watching Apple gain an upper hand in areas where not even MS can make a dent. Many believe that they are a consumer electronics company, but the heart and soul of Apple has always been and will always be their OS.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>I know a lot of VFP developers have tunnel vision and only see the opportunities that Windows provides... and they are huge... but there is also a huge number of developers ready and willing to pursue those opportunities. By contrast, I think the potential in the Mac world for business desktop applications is even larger for those capable of meeting the needs of the Mac community.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>With that in mind, I don't see MS providing tools to allow me to pursue those opportunities, but a company like Real Software does! I own my own company so I'm not worried about job opportunities. My only concern is pursuing opportunities that benefit my users and in return provide benefits to my company.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>I don't know anything about this package but I do have some thoughts.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>If you're writing an application that you wish to sell, will the market receive it any better than the equivalent application written in VFP?
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>If you're a contractor looking for work, how much is out there.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>If you're looking for a "job" as opposed to a contract, is there anything out there? I did a quick search on Indeed.com and got zero hits for "realstudio"
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>As my title states, if you're still looking for a migration path from Visual Foxpro to something else, I would strongly suggest looking at RealStudio (formerly Realbasic, which is the language that it uses). I've been working with it for the last year and now starting to put into work developing applications.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>Here's a couple of little know facts.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>RealStudio is written in Realbasic. Fully object oriented and multi-threaded.
>>>>>>>>>>>Microsoft uses Realbasic to prototype Office for Mac in their own development community.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>Some of the short comings of previous versions have been eliminated. They now have a built-in report writer, although 3rd party products seem to offer more features.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>Built-in database (SQLite 3), however, it is recommended for single-user applications. They offer RealSQLServer for multi-user applications; however, there are other databases supported by RealStudio. If you develop an application using RealSQL database, you can jump to one of the other supported databases without re-coding. Very cool.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>Additionally, RealStudio allows you to develop applications that are cross-platform without a lot of additional programming. And when I say cross-platform, I mean Windows, Mac, and Linux.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>There's a lot to like in RealStudio and they have a 30 day demo; but it will take a bit longer than that to get your feet wet. I looked at .NET, but RealStudio creates executables that don't require a runtime or a multitude of DLL dependencies. You can literally develop an application for Windows (or the other cross platforms) that you can copy to a folder and run.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>If you're looking for a product that provides the same flexibility and speed of development (and then some) that we came to love in VFP, then I would highly recommend RealStudio. The built-in classes allow you to do almost anything you could dream of. VB programmers should feel right at home.