TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Where are the cheap computers? From:Ad absurdum per aspera <JTCHEW -at- LBL -dot- GOV> Date:Fri, 19 Nov 1993 18:20:52 GMT
> Carl Gotlieb asked if anyone used WordStar in a work environment.
> No, but I use it at home...
About two-thirds of the communication products I put out now
(i.e., the straight text) could still be done on an early
version of WordStar and the floppy-disk-based HP-150 (a near-
compatible imitation of the IBM Primordial Computer) on which
I ran it. Or, for that matter, with the EMACS, DEC-20, and
Diablo printer I was using prior to that.
The other third, however, demands or at least strongly suggests
the use of a computer with singing fonts and dancing graphics,
like the Mac Centris 650 I'm using right now. In a really penny-
pinching office, I could make do with ready access to such a
machine, rather than having one on my own desk, I suppose.
All told, I would go back to the more primitive computers only
reluctantly. And I'd have to be marooned on a desert island
to use a typewriter -- I really like the effects that word
processing has on the writing process. But your situation may
differ. As they say, different horses for different courses...
Joe
"The pallid pimp of the dead-line/The enervate of the pen" -Robert Service