American History 1988
Chapter 43 - 40 Business

Chapter 43: Chapter 40 Business

"Hey, buddy, take it easy with that thing—it can’t handle too much tossing about." Outside the doors of the Youngstown Municipal Court, Dean was directing the movers as they unloaded from the truck.

"Don’t worry, mate, we’re professionals at moving." The worker in the green fluorescent vest seemed very calm.

"Okay, I’m just..." Dean gestured with his hands, "a little worried, that’s all."

No wonder he was nervous; perhaps the movers didn’t know. But Dean was aware that the big guy on the truck was worth eighty to ninety thousand US dollars.

IBM’s latest enterprise server AS/400, launched in ’88, plus a 5GB hard drive.

Why describe a hard drive with the word "unit"? Because it was bigger than a refrigerator and weighed a hefty 500 pounds, a true behemoth.

A server, a hard drive; next, they would become the new workstations for the Youngstown Municipal Court.

That’s right, these workstations were specifically prepared for the DCAP Office System developed by Dean.

After a week of trial runs, DCAP had performed well, and the four judges of the Youngstown Municipal Court had even gotten used to using it for their work.

It wasn’t just the judges who liked it—the secretaries and bailiffs in charge of document work liked it too.

"Dean, need a break?" Lorraine came over with two bottles of Coke.

"Thank you, Lorraine." Dean twisted open a Coke and took a sip, "But I need to keep an eye on things here, they’re quite precious, you know."

"The system you’ve developed is very easy to use, Dean. Since we’ve had it, I no longer need to push a cart full of file bags around the lobby."

Before, whether it was sorting files or a judge needing access to them, it was bailiffs like Lorraine doing the legwork.

But with DCAP, judges could handle it all with just a few keystrokes from their offices.

Lorraine didn’t know what others thought of DCAP, but she was definitely one of its staunch supporters.

"Thanks for the compliment, Lorraine." Only after all the goods were safely unloaded did Dean relax and start chatting with her.

"To make DCAP run smoother and access more information, we need to upgrade it. The previous server just can’t handle the load anymore."

The Youngstown Municipal Court had a server before, but it was an ancient relic from over a decade ago. It was barely sufficient to run DCAP on a few computers, but to include the entire court’s PCs and future networking capabilities, it just wasn’t enough.

Funnily enough, Dean’s own "rent collection" software upgrade, previously pulled data from the court’s old server. Thinking of his own financial prospects, he was keen on the court’s server upgrade.

As the system developer, it was undoubtedly his responsibility to take care of the municipal court’s hardware upgrade.

Of course, all these hardware had been pre-ordered and purchased; a student like him couldn’t interfere with these tasks.

In fact, to many, Dean’s software being formally used was already quite an accomplishment. This was, after all, a courthouse, a public service institution, even if it was just a small local one.

After the server and hard drive were moved into the machine room, Dean and the technicians sent by IBM began setting up the workstation.

Actually, it was mostly the IBM people setting up, and he assisted on the side. Although Dean also knew the basics, this was a rare opportunity to learn, and he wanted to understand more.

Setting up the workstation wasn’t too complicated—once the hardware was in place and tested, it was mostly done in half a day. The rest of the time, Dean discussed network technology and related issues with the IBM team.

"Dean, it’s hard to imagine that in a place like Youngstown, there would be a computer talent like you. No, you’re a genius."

"Bob, thanks for teaching me so much. I’m still learning; computing is a profound field of study."

"You’re right, Dean," Bob packed up his things, "computers are indeed profound and fascinating, but if you want to go further, I suggest you head to California, to Silicon Valley. There’s a broader world out there, Youngstown, or the whole of Ohio, is just too small."

"California... Silicon Valley..." Dean said longingly, "the Mecca of Computers."

"Exactly, the holy land!" Bob laughed and nodded as a salute before leaving the computer room, his work was done.

"Well, that’s a good idea. But before that, let’s get DCAP sorted out first." Dean buried his head again and started debugging the software.

In the following two days, Dean practically lived in the computer room, and finally on the morning of the third day, everything was on the right track.

After entering the last line of command in the workstation, Dean gently pressed the Enter key.

Beep, as the green signal lights on the server lit up one by one, he finally took a deep breath of relief.

After going over the key points with the staff there, Dean headed to Judge Witt’s office on the third floor.

"Judge Witt, DCAP is ready," Dean reported as soon as he entered.

"I’ve already seen it, oh," Witt typed a few times on the computer, "it works so smoothly it’s unbelievable."

"Your approval is my greatest honor," Dean said with a smile, giving a gentleman’s bow.

"Well then, it looks like our genius student can’t wait to get his reward," said the upbeat Judge Witt, pulling open a drawer and taking out a check. "Here you go, this is what you deserve."

"Thank you for your generosity," Dean didn’t decline, and he gladly accepted it.

The total of three thousand US dollars was finally in hand, quite a modest sum for developing an office system, but at least it was an acknowledgment of the knowledge Dean had put in.

"By the way, Dean. If the DCAP system is maintained well, it might just catch the eye of courts in other areas of Ohio," Judge Witt hinted just as Dean was about to leave.

Dean’s gaze flashed; he understood exactly what that meant. It meant more batches of three thousand US dollars, no, the next client who wanted DCAP would not be getting it for this price.

"Judge Witt, my school is in Cleveland. If there are any issues with DCAP during its use, I can be here in an hour and a half," said Dean.

"Good!" Judge Witt was very satisfied with Dean’s attitude, "I’ll recommend this system to the state, and your letter of recommendation is ready whenever you wish to pick it up."

"You are an upright and kind lady," Dean said politely with a nod before quietly leaving the office.

Watching his departing figure, Witt smiled and continued to study DCAP with enthusiasm.

She needed to familiarize herself with it quickly, so that she could introduce it with gravity to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. She had decided on Dean’s DCAP not just because she valued talent, or because the system was that important.

Sheryl Witt was indeed the judge with the most experience at the Youngstown trial court, but Ohio judges were not appointed for life.

If she wanted to be re-elected, or even to go further to the appellate court or the highest court of the state, relying solely on experience without any personal advantage or political capital was undoubtedly a bit too ethereal.

She needed a highlight, just as presidential candidates need a platform. In every meeting or speech, Sheryl Witt could use DCAP as her own political achievement.

Especially if DCAP proved successful and widely applied, her highlight would be all the more noticeable.

The three thousand dollars was a deal! Her promise to promote DCAP, in exchange for Dean’s full support of the software—thereby making her political achievement shine even brighter—was also a deal!

If Dean was smart enough, he would know what to do next.

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