I'm quite familiar with the history of Lotus Notes which is not too surprising given that I worked for Lotus Development from 1983 to 1992 and as Lotus's 'International Czar' helped design Notes for international markets. This article though fills in some of the early history going back to Plato Notes in 1973! Notes was way ahead of its time as this article explains.
The h2g2 (Earth Edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) site run by the BBC of which this article it is part also looks interesting. H2g2 is an unconventional guide to life, the universe and everything
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