Computers: Getting Rid of the Bugs

Angry systems users are taking their complaints to court

When William Selden, a former IBM executive, started his own data-processing firm in 1977, he ordered six Honeywell computers. The first one was delivered to his Rochester headquarters in the spring of 1978, but, says Selden, "it was two months late and dead on arrival." He spent two years trying to get the balky operating system of the computer to function while his infant firm ran up losses that totaled $1.2 million. Selden was forced to liquidate his business and sell the 200-year-old family farm...

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