HIGH-TECH SHOULD BE USER-FRIENDLY

Putting the sometimes mind-boggling technological capabilities of computers into easy-to-use packages is the industry's major challenge, say executives at a convention here.

"Our successors . . . in the year 2000 should judge us not only on the technology we brought to the market, but on how we used that technology to bring the world closer together," said Bob Kavner, who manages data systems and federal systems for the AT&T Group.Kavner sounded the call for simplification in his speech opening ComdexSpring '90. The industry's biannual gathering is expected to draw 60,000 this week.

That sentiment was echoed on the exhibit floor.

No matter how advanced the technology, "If people don't turn it on, it does no good," said William Roberts, a sales representative for Caseworks Inc.

Caseworks, an Atlanta-based software developer, is one of several companies at the show that have enthusiastically endorsed Windows 3.0, a software product introduced last month by Microsoft Corp. to make IBM personal computers easier to use.

"Either people will get on this bandwagon or get left behind very quickly," Roberts said.

Pat Kenealy, publisher of PC World magazine, said Windows was one of the key software technologies getting a close look. The convention marks the first time many in the industry have been able to see the new version of Windows, he said.

Windows was designed to make IBM personal computers and their clones as easy to use as Apple Computer's Macintosh.

"Over the last three or four years IBM's standard computers have been tons cheaper than Macintosh but much harder to use. Macintosh is massively more user-friendly but massively more expensive," Kenealy said.

Caseworks' latest product, the "Case:W" engineering tool, was unveiled on the heels of the Windows introduction and prominently features the new software.

Roberts said Caseworks is pushing Windows technology as a way for companies to get more production out of their workers by simplifying computers. With Windows, a user with only limited computer knowledge can perform up to four times as many functions as before, he said.

"It makes the computer less intimidating," he said.

The emergence of computer networks, which link computer users and allow increased sharing of information, was evident on the Comdex floor as exhibitors jostled to get attention for hundreds of products aimed at offering heightened compatibility.

Drawing a sizeable crowd was a demonstration of Wang's ProFound document manager, which the company says provides access to documents anywhere on a large, busy network.

The user in a big corporation, for example, can find a document with a search based on the content of the paper rather than worrying about where it was filed, said Christopher Junker, a regional manager for Wang.