IF you've been using PCO/WordStar/WordPefect ad nauseum for the last 40 years THEN (Boomer) maybe it makes sense to continue; devoting your remaining months/years to learning something new probably isn't the best use of your time.

HOWEVER, IF you're saying "gee, I should try using these ancient, long-abandoned apps for the first time because they sound fun" THEN you're doing it wrong: Keep the 1980's in the distant past, where it belongs. 1200k baud modems & Monday-night user group meetings were exciting and whatnot back then but tech has thankfully moved on and nobody should be even wistful about that.

As a Boomer myself, it makes me sad that some of us are stuck in those 1980's and, frankly, they are giving us a bad name. So if you're one of them, kindly keep your quirks to yourselves: PC-Outline isn't how you rage against the dying of the light.

Well, that could have been a little cheerier.

I dunno, I can think of worse ways to rage against the dying of the light... ;-)

What you need, Listerene, is to discover the Laundry Files series by Charles Stross. Actually, all us Boomers need to read it. It’s very, very salutary...

Listerene wrote:

PC-Outline isn't how you
rage against the dying of the light.

I don't know if you have a deep enough familiarity with the works of George R.R. Martin to have done this on purpose (kudos if you did), but Martin -- one of those espousing the joy of still using Wordstar, as noted earlier in the thread -- wrote a novel called "Dying of the Light." It is science fiction and a pretty good novel if my memory 45 years later hasn't white-washed it.

MadaboutDana wrote:

I dunno, I can think of worse ways to rage against the dying of the
light... ;-)

What you need, Listerene, is to discover the Laundry Files series by
Charles Stross. Actually, all us Boomers need to read it. It’s
very, very salutary...

Listerene wrote:
>PC-Outline isn't how you
>rage against the dying of the light.

Thank you for mentioning this. Never heard of it and on your suggestion, read a sample and bought it.

Jon

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

I don't know if you have a deep enough familiarity with the works of
George R.R. Martin to have done this on purpose (kudos if you did), but
Martin -- one of those espousing the joy of still using Wordstar, as
noted earlier in the thread -- wrote a novel called "Dying of the
Light." It is science fiction and a pretty good novel if my memory 45
years later hasn't white-washed it.

MadaboutDana wrote:
I dunno, I can think of worse ways to rage against the dying of the
>light... ;-)
>
>What you need, Listerene, is to discover the Laundry Files series by
>Charles Stross. Actually, all us Boomers need to read it. It’s
>very, very salutary...
>
>Listerene wrote:
>>PC-Outline isn't how you
>>rage against the dying of the light.

Excellent. I hope you enjoy it. It was the first book of Martin's I read and it has stuck with me, though I don't remember it in detail, just the broad outline.

Jon Polish wrote:

Thank you for mentioning this. Never heard of it and on your suggestion,
read a sample and bought it.

Jon

Stephen Zeoli wrote:
I don't know if you have a deep enough familiarity with the works of
>George R.R. Martin to have done this on purpose (kudos if you did), but
>Martin -- one of those espousing the joy of still using Wordstar, as
>noted earlier in the thread -- wrote a novel called "Dying of the
>Light." It is science fiction and a pretty good novel if my memory 45
>years later hasn't white-washed it.
>
>MadaboutDana wrote:
>I dunno, I can think of worse ways to rage against the dying of the
>>light... ;-)
>>
>>What you need, Listerene, is to discover the Laundry Files series by
>>Charles Stross. Actually, all us Boomers need to read it. It’s
>>very, very salutary...
>>
>>Listerene wrote:
>>>PC-Outline isn't how you
>>>rage against the dying of the light.

Thanks, MadaboutDana - I read a description and The Laundry Files sound fascinating.

Regarding rage against the candle burning low, I've recently redeveloped an interest in math.

I'm tired of being math-stupid, but there's another reason. I want the mental calisthenics to toughen up against the onset of years.

Is it working? get back with me in my 90's. My Mom could add six digit numbers in her head while hearing them at a conversational pace at age 90.

So far, my Kahn Academy courses are recreation, sort of like Sudoku, and I've found interesting things particularly about triangles. For instance, a consequence of the law of sines is that (ab)/hc (a times b divided by the height to the third side) is a constant. At this point I believe my nearly 70 years have not dimmed my dome light.

It's also interesting how much really, really old tech is in daily use, even by the most enlightened of Gen-Z hipsters. Assuming, of course, hipster is not an anachronism when applied to Gen-Z. I'll ask Nurse Ratched when she comes by with my meds.

MadaboutDana wrote:

I dunno, I can think of worse ways to rage against the dying of the
light... ;-)

What you need, Listerene, is to discover the Laundry Files series by
Charles Stross. Actually, all us Boomers need to read it. It’s
very, very salutary...

Listerene wrote:
>PC-Outline isn't how you
>rage against the dying of the light.

Thanks, MadaboutDana - I read a description and The Laundry Files sound fascinating.

Regarding rage against the candle burning low, I've recently redeveloped an interest in math.

I'm tired of being math-stupid, but there's another reason. I want the mental calisthenics to toughen up against the onset of years.

Is it working? get back with me in my 90's. My Mom could add six digit numbers in her head while hearing them at a conversational pace at age 90.

So far, my Kahn Academy courses are recreation, sort of like Sudoku, and I've found interesting things particularly about triangles. For instance, a consequence of the law of sines is that (ab)/hc (a times b divided by the height to the third side) is a constant. At this point I believe my nearly 70 years have not dimmed my dome light.

It's also interesting how much really, really old tech is in daily use, even by the most enlightened of Gen-Z hipsters. Assuming, of course, hipster is not an anachronism when applied to Gen-Z. I'll ask Nurse Ratched when she comes by with my meds.

MadaboutDana wrote:

I dunno, I can think of worse ways to rage against the dying of the
light... ;-)

What you need, Listerene, is to discover the Laundry Files series by
Charles Stross. Actually, all us Boomers need to read it. It’s
very, very salutary...

Listerene wrote:
>PC-Outline isn't how you
>rage against the dying of the light.

Love it! Funnily enough, I’ve started looking at maths again as something I really ought to get a once-and-for-all grip on (inasmuch as this is possible – the very fact that I’m saying that brands me indelibly as a rank mathematical amateur!)

I read for much the same reason: Charles Stross, Neal Stephenson, Cory Doctorow and the amazing qntm (for goodness’ sake read “There is no antimemetics division”!) are so mind-boggling brilliant and stimulating that I find myself rushing off to examine their various clever logical/mathematical/conceptual games from multiple angles. Stross’s first Laundry Files book in particular is so full of abstruse maths premises that I still haven’t worked out exactly what he’s saying – but he manages, like Stephenson at his best (Cryptonomicon), to combine rapid action with serious intellectual brainfodder.

qntm just has a totally extraordinary mind.

As it happens, I hadn’t heard of the George R.R. Martin novel – I shall go away and find it!

Thanks for the stimulating thoughts, everybody! I’m approaching mid-60s, so mental stimulus is always much appreciated!!!

Amontillado wrote:

Thanks, MadaboutDana - I read a description and The Laundry Files sound
fascinating.

Regarding rage against the candle burning low, I've recently redeveloped
an interest in math.

I'm tired of being math-stupid, but there's another reason. I want the
mental calisthenics to toughen up against the onset of years.

Is it working? get back with me in my 90's. My Mom could add six digit
numbers in her head while hearing them at a conversational pace at age
90.

So far, my Kahn Academy courses are recreation, sort of like Sudoku, and
I've found interesting things particularly about triangles. For
instance, a consequence of the law of sines is that (ab)/hc (a times b
divided by the height to the third side) is a constant. At this point I
believe my nearly 70 years have not dimmed my dome light.

It's also interesting how much really, really old tech is in daily use,
even by the most enlightened of Gen-Z hipsters. Assuming, of course,
hipster is not an anachronism when applied to Gen-Z. I'll ask Nurse
Ratched when she comes by with my meds.

MadaboutDana wrote:
I dunno, I can think of worse ways to rage against the dying of the
>light... ;-)
>
>What you need, Listerene, is to discover the Laundry Files series by
>Charles Stross. Actually, all us Boomers need to read it. It’s
>very, very salutary...
>
>Listerene wrote:
>>PC-Outline isn't how you
>>rage against the dying of the light.

jaslar wrote:

Reviving Wordstar looks like a fun way to spend a day!

Fun is the right word for it :-)

I had never heard of WordStar before, and it's quite interesting to look at what it can do. As a veteran CRIMPer of many years, I have learned that it's not the software per se that I am interested in, but the workflow ideas that I get from people using different programs. For someone to stick with WordStar for so long suggests that it can do things that other programs can't.

Some of the features that Robert Sawyer appreciates are a clean interface, easy-to-write comments, fast bookmarks, transparent formatting codes, full keyboard control, and different on-screen and print fonts (https://sfwriter.com/strength.txt It seems to me that those features are now found in a markdown editor like Obsidian or Typora (with css and Pandoc export) rather than in MS Word. So they were there a long time ago and now they are back, but not in Word.

One feature that I would like to use is the fast bookmarks. I haven't found its closest analogue yet, but the search led me to discover that Word has a lousy bookmarking interface. However, LibreOffice Writer's navigator, writemonkey 3's jump list and Atlantis Word Processor's Control Board are all quite useful. I had been using Word's navigator when writing long notes and I might use one of these instead.

WordStar lost me when it became WordStar 2000. Then came WordPerfect. It seemed like the one true word processor at the time. I hardwired all 40 (!) variants of the ten function keys with control, alt, and shift into my spinal cord.

My tastes have since evolved, but I wouldn't be at a loss for words with WordStar or WordPerfect. WordStar 2000, I guess I'd just have to gut that out. Or find a primary pencil and a Big Chief tablet.