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Processes not tools
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Posted by Amontillado
Sep 25, 2018 at 02:46 AM
I agree with some of what you say. The process is more important than the tools, and there’s another step down that path. The product is all that matters.
Mainstream tools are fine if they do the job. If they don’t, pitch ‘em.
Just guessing, Wordstar might have been a hot office item at the time you were using Mellel. Wordstar was bigger than Word in its day, and there is nothing presently sold that will open Wordstar files on the market today.
Docx and rtf are both (probably) safe for archival, but both are more complex than necessary to carry your message. I realize in the case of your early work Ol’ Paint has already gone up in flames with the barn, but it’s not a bad practice to export to plain text when you set something aside.
On the other hand, even papyrus and dry desert caves aren’t perfect. Media deteriorates, and if you don’t refresh your backups on new media you will eventually lose your data. Writable CDs and DVDs will go unreadable with a relatively short exposure to direct sunlight. I can’t remember the time frame, but it seems like it was a week or two when I tried it.
But I appreciate what you say about old Mellel files. In fact, I wish I’d used Mellel long, long ago and had a bunch of unreadable files.
I’d like to buy a Mac Mini, but my wife’s an elementary school teacher. It’s true about the eyes in the back of the head. I don’t get away with nuttin’, and if I can’t come up with an airtight excuse I’ll probably never get a Mini.
Sure would be nice, though. I could see one in the center console of my pickup truck with an HDMI display in front of one of the back seats. A writing studio with four wheel drive, mmmm….
Posted by Pixelpunker
Sep 25, 2018 at 08:59 AM
> Delu:
>
> Pixelpunker wrote:
>
> \>2) Say no to Internet\
> \>3) embrace the cloud
>
> If you are going to rely on the cloud for your backup, you cannot say
> no to the Internet.
If I am using a streaming service with my personal hifi or a cloud
backup service I’m technically using the internet. What I meant to say
was I say no to the web, the blogosphere, online newspapers and social
media. At least for a time.
> Delu: The annotations made with Remarkable are not readable by the
> standard pdf reading tools such as Acrobat.
That’s new and bad news for me. I thought the Remarkable was saving my
annotations as part of the PDF in a standard format, although I never
tried it.
> Delu: I also like the idea of saying no to tools. But, I am doubting
> your integrity because you are actually adopting many quirky tools.
I object to your wording here but I assume for the sake of our argument,
you meant to say I am inconsistent. Paragraph 5 should have read “I say
no to NEW tools”. I certainly like shiny new tools and gadgets. Which
has led me over time to a multitude of files now locked away in
inaccessible formats. But I’m starting to resist my urges: I did NOT buy
a Hemmingway freewrite, a Blackberry 10 device, Gemini Linux PDA oder
Android-based Blackberry although I really thought about it a lot.
> Tightbeam: I wouldn’t put much faith in most self-published books.
I concur. The floodgates to low-quality filler have been opened. It’s so
horrible that the stature of the book itself as a cultural icon is at
risk. Amazon is partly to blame here.
> Tightbeam: I look with equal disdain on the Microsoft, Apple, et. al.,
> cheerleaders as I do those “too cool” to use anything but home-brewed
> tools.
Certainly a pragmatic stance is best. My issue with home-brewn tools was
the lockdown in obscure formats. But that also applies to now defunct
formats by then big companies like the stuff on my Symbian phones.
Plaintext to me is way too limited as a solution.
> Amontillado: On the other hand, even papyrus and dry desert caves
> aren’t perfect.
Sure, but the timeframe of this digital stuff is a joke. I can’t even
read 10-year-old files.
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Sep 25, 2018 at 11:21 AM
Thank you for actively joining this forum’s discussions. I appreciate what you’ve shared with us about your own revelations in doing information work.
I would like to know your definition of “mainstream.” It seems to me, on a PC, that means you’re using Microsoft products exclusively. If not, then your definition of mainstream is looser than mine.
I’m not criticizing that choice, but I would be uncomfortable relying on Microsoft.
Your overall point that it is more productive to concentrate on processes than tools is certainly valid in my view. But you must realize that for many people on this forum part of the enjoyment of doing this kind of work is exploring new tools. I admire the small developers who have a fresh vision and put that vision into an app that may take years to create. I like to support them when I can. And sometimes a “mainstream” app emerges from this process (think Scrivener).
Thanks again!
Steve Z.
Posted by tightbeam
Sep 25, 2018 at 11:39 AM
Stephen Zeoli wrote:
>I’m not criticizing that choice, but I would be uncomfortable relying on
>Microsoft.
How come? Are you also uncomfortable relying on Apple? the Scrivener folks? any home-brew, cottage developer?
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Sep 25, 2018 at 12:51 PM
I didn’t say I don’t use Microsoft products. I am forced to. I am saying I don’t want to rely on them exclusively. Microsoft’s aim is clearly to herd everyone into their Office 365 annual subscription system. When a company is that big, it usually means the customers have to adapt to the changes based on the company’s needs, and not the other way around. Small developers work to satisfy the needs of the customer.
I don’t use Apple’s Pages or Numbers. You’ve got to trust somebody’s hardware and operating system.
If you read my whole post you’d see that I addressed small developers and Scrivener.
tightbeam wrote:
Stephen Zeoli wrote:
>>I’m not criticizing that choice, but I would be uncomfortable relying
>on
>>Microsoft.
>
>How come? Are you also uncomfortable relying on Apple? the Scrivener
>folks? any home-brew, cottage developer?
>
>
>