Chapter 1. A Short History of Notes and Domino

As with all great ideas, Lotus Notes started out as the solution to a specific need. Three programming students attending a Midwest university in the late 1970s wanted a way to share notes and information. To do this, they used a software program called PLATO Group Notes, which ran on their mainframe-based college computer system. This program really wasn't intended for this purpose — it was originally designed for bug reporting, but it did provide just enough communication and collaboration functionality to offer a hint at what could be done, given the right software and technology.

After graduation, these three students — Ray Ozzie, Tim Halvorsen, and Len Kawell (names that have since achieved near-legendary status within the Lotus Notes community) — went their separate ways. But none forgot the potential they saw in PLATO Group Notes. Halvorsen and Kawell took jobs at Digital Equipment Corporation, where they eventually created an in-house communication tool that resembled PLATO. Meanwhile, Ozzie took programming positions with other corporations, but never lost sight of his vision to form his own company and develop a more advanced, PC-based collaboration program. Eventually (1984 to be exact), with funding provided by the Lotus Development Corporation (makers of the famous Lotus 1-2-3), Ozzie founded Iris Associates Inc. to develop the first release of Lotus Notes. Ozzie was soon joined by former classmates Halvorsen and Kawell, and shortly thereafter by Steve Beckhardt.