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.
Did I mention that I use the 286 strictly for word processing my fiction
work? All the technical writing/document publication I do is on a
Gateway2000 486DX-66 and a HP4si printer. I have to admit, I have the best
of both worlds and all the tools I need.
On Wed, 9 Nov 1994, Westra, Kayla L. wrote:
>> As I prepared to update my system, my brother-in-law/computer guy asked
me
>> what my old machine wouldn't do that I needed on my new machine. With a
>> sheepish grin, I replied, "Ah, nothing." I still have my eight year old
>> 286, and it still turns out good work.
Matt says:
>Well, I just bought a Macintosh Performa 635CD for home, mostly for
freelance
>work that I do evenings and weekends. All credit and it will take me a
while
>to pay it off, but I think it's well worth it. I also bought a 600 dpi
>LaserPrinter. At work I use a Mac IIsi (when I can't do my work on an
Xterm)
>and it's so unbearably slow for anything more complex than a thank-you note
>that I've taken to doing my real work at home. Sure the IIsi will *do*
>everything that my Performa will, but my Performa doesn't keep me waiting.
>don't have to watch the Performa redraw the screen a line a time. When I
try
>to run PageMaker on the IIsi (with 16MB RAM), I end up pounding my fist
(and
>sometimes my head) on my desk in frustration.
>Even if the Performa does something only incrementally faster than the
IIsi,
>all those increments add up and make my time at the computer much more
>productive and enjoyable. I'm more inclined to do the extra step to polish
>up a document, because I've already saved time and I know that the extra
step
>won't take forever. It's a real joy to be able to do the things you want to
>do at the pace you are capable of doing them, rather than at the snail's
pace
>that that older, slower processor is willing to let you do them. No, I say
>buy something a little better than you think you can afford and you'll be
>glad you did.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Matt Hicks, Tech. Writer, Unidata * I may not agree with what you
Boulder, CO, (303)497-8676, ******* say, but I'll defend to the
matt -at- unidata -dot- ucar -dot- edu ************* death my right to mock you.