Long before microsoft, there was SAP (Systems Analysis & Programming). A bunch of funky long haired ex IBM programmers who perfected their applications first consulting with their clients (big business). Then sitting down at a desk and creating their applications with nothing but pen, paper and cards. Programming stripped bare. Then typing in (or transferring by punch card) the application(s) into the clients own machine (they couldn't afford personal IBM minis) and configuring it.

Development has speed up a lot since then with developers working with live code at the console. Has it got that much better?