RE: What Are the Main Problems You Have with MS Word?

["Miller, Alan" <Alan -dot- Miller -at- prometric -dot- com>]

I don't think the issue here is semantics or [implied] Microsoft bashing. BG and his colleagues in Redmond are Big Boys and don't need any of our help defending themselves against criticism (or whining, if you will). Besides, they are such a big and easy target that there is no sport in it any more.

Now, we all have to admit that Word, like most anything else designed and built by people, is flawed. We live with it. We find ways to do what we have to do with it and move on. In a perfect Universe we'd have seatbelts _and_ decrumple levers (that worked flawlessly) that we never had to use. But we don't. Will MS redesign word to fix the things we find inconvenient or broken? Probably not. It's too expensive for both MS and the consumer. But, hey, we'll get by.

Martin, your passion is admirable. Just remember that for most of us, Word is just another tool of the craft. We neither like nor dislike it. Don't take it so personally. Have fun.

Al (Remembering the Good Ole Days of chisel and stone) Miller
"Chief Documentation Curmudgeon"
Prometric, Inc., a Thomson Corporation business
Baltimore, Maryland

The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.
		-- Douglas Adams
	 -----Original Message-----
	From: 	bounce-techwr-l-40429 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com@ITP   On Behalf Of "Martin Soderstrom" <scribbler1382 -at- yahoo -dot- com>
	Sent:	Thursday, May 30, 2002 2:40 PM
	To:	TECHWR-L
	Subject:	Re: What Are the Main Problems You Have with MS Word?


	Well, I don't want to get into a semantic argument, my point was if the
	recover feature wasn't there, people would be whining all over the place
	that Microsoft sucks for not including it.


	"Miller, Alan" <Alan -dot- Miller -at- prometric -dot- com> wrote in message
	news:156083 -at- techwr-l -dot-  -dot-  -dot- 

	I don't see the connection between the two analogies. It seems to me that
	Martin Page is making a point about after-the-fact correction of the
	consequences of failures caused by faulty design. Meanwhile, Martin
	Soderstrom seems to be likening it to a failure to include a design feature
	that would prevent problems in the first place. This is an excellent example
	of why not to argue by analogy (Argumentum ad analgesic :-{) ).

	Pointing out design flaws (real or perceived) is not Luddite thinking. It's
	just good skepticism.

	Al Miller
	"Chief Documentation Curmudgeon"
	Prometric, Inc., a Thomson Corporation business
	Baltimore, Maryland

	The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.
	-- Douglas Adams

	>  -----Original Message-----
	> From: bounce-techwr-l-40429 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com@ITP   On Behalf Of "Martin
	Soderstrom" <scribbler1382 -at- yahoo -dot- com>
	> Sent: Thursday, May 30, 2002 1:53 PM
	> To: TECHWR-L
	> Subject: Re: What Are the Main Problems You Have with MS Word?
	>
	>
	> That's luddite thinking.  For years cars didn't come with seatbelts when
	the
	> manufacturers had determined they would save lives because they thought a
	> car with seat belts would be viewed as unsafe.
	>
	>
	> "Martin Page" <mpage -at- csl -dot- co -dot- uk> wrote in message news:155974 -at- techwr-l -dot-  -dot-  -dot- 
	> >
	> >
	> > >> Does it seem curious to you that Microsoft has built-in the Microsoft
	> > Word document "Recovery" feature? Hmmmmmm? <<
	> >
	> > Come to think of it, would you buy a car that had a "Decrumple Lever"
	just
	> > in case the steering wheel came off when you went round a hair-pin bend?


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