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Re: From the NY Review of Books: Escape From MS Word

Subject: Re: From the NY Review of Books: Escape From MS Word
From: Mike Starr <mike -at- writestarr -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 14:35:07 -0500

IMNSHO, the author of that article is a fool. He's grumbling because Microsoft Word's Platonic ideal doesn't match his own Platonic ideal. I have a couple maybe 80-year old Snap-On Bluepoint box-end wrenches that I inherited from my dad... those box-end wrenches, because their grip is perfectly round, are far less painful to use... they're my Platonic ideal of how a box-end wrench should be designed. Unfortunately, the Platonic ideal expressed by modern tool manufacturers is that their grip should be mostly flat. Maybe one of these days, a tool manufacturer will start selling box-end wrenches with round grips but in the meantime, I'm going to fold a shop-towel and use it to cushion the grip of my other box-end wrenches. I'm not going to pitch a hissy fit about it. Had the author of that article learned how to use his tools, it would work just fine for him.

Best Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Starr, Writer
Technical Writer - Online Help Developer - WordPress Websites
Graphic Designer - Desktop Publisher - Custom Microsoft Word templates
(262) 694-1028 - mike -at- writestarr -dot- com - http://www.writestarr.com
President - Working Writers of Wisconsin http://www.workingwriters.org/

On 10/23/2014 1:18 PM, Michael McCallister wrote:

Not specifically on-topic, but...Saw this article today:

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/oct/21/escape-microsoft-word/

Interesting piece, but I might argue with its primary thesis, which seems
to be that "Styles are Evil" (at least in the Word implementation).

I am moderately amazed to learn that WordPerfect for DOS still runs on his
computer, though. ;-)



Mike McCallister
Just released: *Build Your Author Platform: The New Rules*
<http://buildauthorplatform.com> (w/Carole Jelen)
Notes from the Metaverse: http://metaverse.wordpress.com

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