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Software that's enjoyable ... software that's a drudgery
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Posted by Ken
Mar 2, 2015 at 01:33 AM
Hugh wrote:
>
>Paul Korm wrote:
>I couldn’t agree more. I enjoy my notebooks, my pens and pencils. I
>>enjoy notetaking on paper more than anywhere else. As much as I enjoy
>>CRIMPing and the software I’ve recommended in this thread and
>elsewhere,
>>I believe that much of what I evaluate about working with this or that
>>software is how close it comes to the same mental experience of writing
>>in a notebook.
>>
>>Ken wrote
>>>Sometimes a piece of paper is my best friend, as it does not share its
>>function with anything else, nor does stuff find its way onto the paper
>>without my writing it.
>
>I agree. Before word processors, before even personal computers, I made
>my living writing or re-writing thousands of words a week, and I used
>well-sharpened pencils, A4 pads - and the third essential tool (apart
>from a constant supply of coffee) rubbers (sorry, erasers) on the ends
>of the pencils (because nobody’s perfect). My requirements of software
>now are similar to those I required of that kit then: that it does what
>it purports to be able to do, and its “user interface” is clear.
>
>However, I have to say that with rare exceptions I gain greater
>satisfaction from ends rather than means. I can put up with quite a few
>minor failings and imperfections in the tools I use, as long as the
>objectives towards which I’m working promise to bring me enjoyment.
It is a bit ironic that you mention writing on pen and paper vs word processing as I absolutely hated writing reports with pen and paper. Having a word processor was very liberating for me, as I could easily change whatever I wrote, and this granted me a bit of freedom, as writing and organizing my thoughts never came easy. This is still true today, and having a task manager like Asana (or previously Ecco then Toodledo) is also needed for long term task management, but when swamped or needing to narrow down the list, paper always seems to come through. I suspect that it is because I do not have to wade through numerous items, or see all of the items outstanding, so perhaps it helps reduce the stress of feeling overwhelmed. Yes, I know that all of these programs can filter lists, but I still know there are tasks lurking beneath the filter, and at work, I also know that my screen has an open Outlook window, so new mail is lurking as well. I guess that paper is somewhat of a false security blanket, but it works in times of great stress.
—Ken
Posted by jaslar
Mar 2, 2015 at 03:20 AM
One of my first professional jobs was all about documenting a computer system. I put about six months into it using the pre-word processing methods: pen and paper, typed and photocopied review, revisions, etc.
Then I used an Apple IIe, first without then with an 80 column card—and finished it in three weeks.
So I too get nostalgic for the past every now and then. But not enough to give up the advantages of computing! Bottom line: I just get more done in less time.
Posted by Ken
Mar 2, 2015 at 03:56 AM
jaslar wrote:
>So I too get nostalgic for the past every now and then. But not enough
>to give up the advantages of computing! Bottom line: I just get more
>done in less time.
I get more done in less time as well (for the most part) thanks to the many great software programs I use. It just seems like more items (tasks, mail, assignments, etc.) keep coming down the pike than in the past, much more on many days. It kind of reminds me of hardware and software. Just after newly released hardware with more processing and storage abilities is released, it seems that software gets more bloated and requires more processor power and memory storage. I know the size of my Android and iPad apps has continued to increase over the years. And, the amount of mail I now receive has dramatically increased over the past couple of years. So, the S/N ratio seems to get smaller, and the companies sending the mail keep increasing their volume, hoping to increase their specific ratio, only to actually lower my overall ratio. With most of my mail being available on my phone, I have become much more brutal with frequent senders (mostly companies) after just reading the subject line and the first few sentences. But I often still feel as though I am not getting ahead no matter how hard I try, not unlike drinking from a fire hose.
—Ken
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Mar 2, 2015 at 03:59 PM
In my first real career-oriented job almost 35 years ago, I was a copywriter for the bicycle manufacturer Cannondale. I pounded out my (admittedly crappy) copy on an IBM Selectric Typewriter. As we didn’t need a full-time copywriter, I also helped out in other ways. One of these was re-typing my copy into the typesetting machine (itself just a big word processor with a bunch of codes to adjust line length, alignment, text size, etc…
Anyway, my point is that when I got my first IBM PC with Wordstar as my word processor, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. In my view, all the refinements to computers and software in total since then amount to a smaller upgrade in ability than that one giant leap from typewriter to computer, in terms of writing. I use a notebook to jot down ideas, to log events, but I can’t write anything creative or worthwhile on anything but a computer. That probably says more about me than the applications. (And it doesn’t stop me from continuing to try and use all those new apps.)
Steve Z.
Posted by tightbeam
Mar 2, 2015 at 08:42 PM
Back in the early 1980s, I was publishing my first magazine (about multi-player postal games and the early computer games). I wrote most of the copy on legal pads and typed in submissions and author-supplied content - which came by post - on one of those “newfangled” typewriters that had a little single-line screen on the front where you could see several of the words you had just typed. I don’t remember the model name. If you caught a typo before the word left the screen, you could correct it before it hit the paper. Then everything had to be retyped into one of those monstrous Varitypers (a typesetting machine). ANY of the software that I use today would have seemed magical back then.