Coin-Ops Lose $100,000; Program May Be Ended

Barring objections from House Masters, the College will shut down its experimental pay-by-the-hour Com-op word processing system and sell all but four of the 40 Digital Electronic Corporation machines.

The program, initiated two years ago, has been plagued by low usage and more than $100,000 in losses.

While a final decision has not yet been made, only major objections from House Masters would prevent the removal of the machines from all 12 residential Houses and she Freshman Union in June 1, said Lewis Law, the Faculty's director of computer operations. He added that he expects no resistance to the move.

The machines are currently operating at a $1600 deficit each month, said Law, and the only machines making a profit were located in the Science Center. These four units will be left in place so that students will be able to complete work they have started on the system.

The word processors, which are open to use by all University affiliates, operate on a dollar-an hour basics and require blank diskettes for users to store their files.

Officials cited the skyrocketing popularity of personal computers as the primary reason for the failure of the program. The demand for use of the DEC mates decreased as more and more students began using Apple, IBM, and DEC personal computers to write papers, Law said.

According to a report released at a Committee on House Life meeting Monday night, the total project loss has amounted to $105,000, which

Law said has been covered has an Office of Information and Technology (OIT).

Start up costs caused must of the deficit, said Marius van Baalen '66, an OIT official. He added her expects the sale of the machines to help cover some of the losses. Both the law School and the Graduate School of Education Schools have "expressed interest in acquiring some of these units," said law, adding that the University also may sell to outside buyers.

"Usage this year to consideration less than last year, and the statistics on personal computer usage indicate that this trend won't change," Law said.

The Digital computers came to Harvard in March 1983, the result of a contract between Digital and Harvard for a joint study on the use of coin operated word processing. According to terms of the agreement, the machines are University property because the contract expired in March, Law said.

"We were surprised at the large number of Mates that students bought as soon as it was offered," said van Baalan. "Had we known that this would happen, we would have done things differently."

Desput its financial failure, officials still consider the project a success.

"We learned a lot, "said Law add me that the project was originally intended to be an experiment