On Thu, 24 Oct 96 08:20 BST-1, you wrote:

> The problem all the space cadets (and I'm not saying you are 
>one, by the way) fail to recognise is that relatively few GPs are 
>interested in operating systems, or even computers. 

I suppose it depends quite how you define "relatively few". Most of
the GPs I meet are interested in operating systems and computers
although I'm willing to admit my sample is probably skewed towards
that kind of doctor.

>They want to practice 
>medicine, own a car that works, repaint the house etc. The type of 
>interface on a clinical computer system is immaterial to 90% of doctors. 
>Windows won't catch on until practices can afford it. Right now, they 
>can't, because the cost of the hardware is so high. 

Yes but many have been steadily investing in PCs on desks etc for the
last couple of years now which is going to reduce the price at time of
purchase. The price is still high but there are many (especially
fundholders) for whom this won't be an obstacle.

>If you consider the 
>fact that there isn't anything that Windows GP systems offer that makes 
>it a "must have" for the GP in the street, then the reason that Vision 
>and System 6000 haven't swept the board becomes clearer. 

I think there are other additional reasons why Vision and 6000 haven't
swept the board as of yet.  Unavailability springs to mind.......

> The first time 
>VAMP could have launched Vision was in 1993, yet three years later, it 
>still has yet to sell in significant numbers. In my opinion, it will be a 
>long time before it is installed in any large number of practices.

Possibly. I have heard claims for the number of practices using Vision
"live" that I simply do not believe. Would a VAMP employee care to
comment?

>Perhaps we talk to different groups of GPs. The people who write and 
>e-mail me from around the country ask questions like: how do I afford the 
>cost of putting eight thousand quids worth of network into the Victorian 
>sem we practice from? 
[SNIP]

Of course, it may just be that you tend to talk to the ones that can't
see where the money is and I (because of my job) tend to talk to the
ones who don't thin the money is an issue. 8000 quid? I'll do it for
6500 :)

>FWIW, I am not a techno-luddite. This message is being typed on a Pentium 
>Pro with 64Mb of RAM and a 2 Gig hard disk, running NT 4. At home, I have 
>a fuck-off PC, because it pays for itself. At work, I have a PC that does 
>the job, and no starry-eyed view of software and hardware. 

That's my favoured adjective for describing a killer PC as well. I
think you've just pushed back the boundaries of accepted English on
gp-uk!

> The average practice will go to Windows when there are pressing 
> reasons to do so, and when they can afford it, but not before. 

Hmm. I take your point. I guess that the truth (as is usual in these
kind of debates) lies somewhere in the middle.

=========================================
Mike Carey - GP Systems Marketing Manager
Doctors' Independent Network
New Summer 96 Newsletter at:
www.demon.co.uk/DIN/s96index.html
=========================================


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