SMUG   FOUNDER   ALL   SMILES



Author: Gladys Burritt

Date: April, 1988

Keywords: Judy Bennett Mac 128K macintax profile interview

Text:
 A birthday gift from her husband in July of 1984 has brought a lot of
changes to Judy Bennett's life.  A brand new 128K Macintosh computer
started her in the direction of computerizing various bookkeeping
projects she was working on in her home.  
A year later, she was a co-founder of the users group we now know as
"SMUG".  Judy says that about 30 people attended that first meeting at
Humboldt Federal in Arcata, interested in meeting other owners of this
new and unique computer and learning how to use it!  The group has been
meeting monthly ever since, and the Mac has undergone many improvements
and the group has grown.  Meanwhile, Judy's 128 was joined with an
external disk drive and a modem, and then was upgraded to a 512.
About the same time, Judy's managerial and bookkeeping talents were
enhanced by the computerization of her husband's dental office. 
Accounts receivable, insurance billing, inventory,  and patient
tracking systems are now handled totally on the Mac.  Judy emphasizes
that all of these office functions have become more productive, and the
Mac  is easily used by all staff members.  Patients' smiles are what
it's all about in dentistry, but now Judy and the staff are all smiles
too!
She says that other dentists she know of have computerized office
systems, but so far she knows of no other offices using the Mac.  Fast
and efficient billing practices out of her office are gaining the
attention of other dental groups, however.   
 
Judy is a great fan of MacinTax, but she admits she's looking forward
to that magic date in April when she can forget taxes for awhile, and
take some time to open the packages of some new software she hasn't had
time to experiment with yet -- Hypercard and PageMaker.  
Things are much more complex now, notes Judy, than when she got her
first computer.  Then, the software available was MacWrite and
MacPaint.  Now, a new Mac user is inundated with possi-bilities of some
quite sophisticated software.
Judy says that when she first got her 128 she enjoyed the game "Zork",
and recently her two young sons have also come to appreciate Mac's
playful MacPaint possibilities.  She remembers one morning when her
youngest son was 2 years old.  She watched him climb up onto the chair,
and then onto the table, where he could reach behind the Mac to turn it
on, pop in the disk for "Airborne", and begin to play the game.  Talk
about "intuitive" computing!
 
Judy is completely enthusiastic about Macintosh, and as her sons grow
older finds that time on the Mac is a precious commodity.  I wonder
what her birthday gift will be this year?

Copyright © april, 1988 by Gladys Burritt