In honor of Throwback Thursday, take a look back at an article from 1980 that highlighted the College of Business’ most cutting-edge technological acquisition at the time.
From the Oct. 17, 1980 edition of the Daily Barometer:
Computer allows realtors to appraise land
In the future, realtors will be able to evaluate property values at the push of a button thanks to two OSU business professors. Arthur Stonehill and Wilbur Widicus, finance professors, have developed programs for an Apple II computer that allows realtors to appraise real estate by comparing a variety of assumptions. The Apple II is a small personal computer system, retailing for approximately $5,000.
Stonehill and Widicus worked with Bill Olsen of Real Estate Microcomputer Systems, Inc. in Corvallis this summer on the project. According to Stonehill, the program is not a new idea.
“We have been teaching the analysis techniques in finance classes for years. You could do everything on a calculator,” he said.
Widicus explained the program as an adaptation of other programs on larger computers.
“Nearly every university has a program of this type on their large computer,” he said. “We have one like it on the OSU computer, but it costs money to run it (the program) every time.”
Adjusted for inflation, a computer that cost $5,000 in 1980 would today sell for $14,462.56 (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics). The fact that the College of Business had just the one Apple II computer (while the university had only one main computer) at the time is pretty shocking when compared to the 400-plus computers that the College of Business owns and operates today.
The work of professors Stonehill and Widicus certainly embodies the innovative spirit of the College of Business, as the concept has evolved to current-day websites such as Trulia and Zillow (which just merged for $3.5 billion) that can provide property values to anyone at the touch of a button, not just realtors.
Just two months later in 1980, the Barometer published an article about a $20,000 grant the College of Business received to purchase micro-processor computers. In the article, College of Business Dean Earl Goddard accurately predicted how computers could someday shape the future landscape of business, saying, “There may be a day when a micro-computer will sit at a business desk desk much like a calculator or typewriter.”
In 1980, the College was only able to purchase a few computers with the $20,000 grant. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $57,850.24 in today’s dollars, which would buy a whole truckload of computers. It really is amazing to take a look back into the not-too-distant past and realize how much technology has changed the way we do business, and how much it impacts our daily lives.
