POST266 "SIMPLE IS PROFOUND"

Hi,

THIS BLOGGER IS GOING BONKERS !!!!!!!!!!! THERE ARE MANY WONDROUS INNOVATIONS IN WORD PROGRAMS. BUT TRY................JUST TRY TO FIND SINGLE SPACE !!!!!!!! OR DOUBLE SPACE.

A PET PEEVE IS THAT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE COMPLEX AND NOT EASY TO FIND SO THAT PEOPLE WHO CREATE WORDSMITH PROGRAMS CAN FEEL SMARTER THAN THE AVERAGE BLOKE !!!!!!!!!!! POO ON THAT.

WHEN THIS BLOGGER STARTED OUT, LIFE WAS HARD !!!!!!!!!! ALL WE HAD WAS A TYPEWRITER WITH NO WAY TO DELETE.  ONLY ERASERS WHICH DID A LOUSY JOB. THE YOUNG ME WENT TO WORK FOR AN INVENTOR ON SATURDAYS AFTER TAKING TYPING ONE IN HIGH SCHOOL.

 NEVER A GREAT TYPIST, MY TEACHER DRUMMED INTO ME==NO MISTAKES==NO MISTAKES !!!!! INEVITABLE ERRORS APPEARED AND  SHE MADE ME THROW MY HALF DONE PAPER AWAY AND START AGAIN.  IT MADE AN IMPRESSION EVEN THOUGH FRANKLY IT WAS A WASTE OF PAPER AND TIME. ON MY NEW SATURDAY JOB AS A TYPIST, THIS BLOGGER  WAS DETERMINED TO GIVE HIM THE BEST OF TYPING.   SHE'D TAUGHT ME WELL TO THROW OUT  PAPER WITH A MISTAKE AND  SOON THE WASTEPAPER BASKET  FILLED.

 MY BOSS WAS A KINDLY MAN WHO KNEW THIS BLOGGER WAS TRYING HARD AND NEVER SAID A WORD, HOWEVER, ONE SATURDAY MORNING AT WORK THERE WERE 30 OR MORE DIFFERENT KINDS OF ERASERS LINED UP ALONG THE DESK.  HE NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THEM SO THIS BLOGGER ASSUMED THEY WERE FOR HIS WORK AT THE DRAWING BOARD.  SIXTEEN IS NOT GENIUS AND  NOT TUNED INTO IRONY. AFTER ALL THIS BLOGGER WAS DOING WHAT THE TYPING TEACHER TAUGHT AND THAT SAME TEACHER BRAGGED SHE TYPED 200 WORDS A MINUTE IN A TYPING CONTEST AND MADE A BELIEVER ??????? OUT OF ME.  THUS THE  TYPING AND DISCARDING CONTINUED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! POOR MAN MUST HAVE REALLY BEEN DISTRAUGHT. 

THE UPSHOT WAS ONE SATURDAY HE GAVE ME A LESSON IN DRAFTING AND SAID AT THE END THAT HIS NEED FOR A SECRETARY HAD DIMINISHED AND HE HOPED THIS BLOGGER WOULD VISIT ONCE IN AWHILE.

 SOME YEARS LATER IT DAWNED ON ME (DU UH) !!!!!!!!WHAT HAPPENED BUT HE HAD DONE IT SO SMOOTHLY THAT THERE WAS NO EMBARRASSMENT. WHAT A GEM  !!!!!!!!!!

WELL, THIS BLOGGER STILL ISN'T A GREAT TYPIST AND THE YEARS ADDED ON ARE NOT AN ASSET. SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE SHE LEARNED TO USE AN ERASER BUT SHE WAS FIRST IN LINE WHEN COMPUTERS APPEARED IN RADIO SHACK AND BOUGHT THE ORIGINAL TRS80 AND FIGURED HER TYPING TROUBLES WERE OVER.  THIS WAS TO SOLVE MANY PROBLEMS AS THE YEARS WENT BY BUT NOT IN THE BEGINNING.

THIS ALL IN ONE (EXCEPT THE PRINTER) COMPUTER HAD A SWITCH UNDERNEATH THAT IT TOOK TIME TO LOCATE AND THEN A RED LIGHT THAT BLINKED
 CONTINUALLY TO SHOW YOU HAD ACHIEVED THE FIRST PART OF BLAST OFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UNFORTUNATELY NEITHER THE INSTRUCTION BOOK OR THE CLERKS AT RADIO SHACK KNEW HOW TO START THE SECOND PART AND THE BLINKETY, BLINKETY, RED LIGHT WAS ALL I COULD PULL UP FOR WEEKS.

NOW FOR THOSE WHO GOT A COMPUTER LATER AND HAD ALL THE WONDERFUL BUILT-IN FEATURES, YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT TRS-80 HAD NOTHING BUILT IN. IT CAME WITH A TEST PROGRAM BUT NO INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO GET INTO THE  LITTLE DARLING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JIM THREATENED TO DISPOSE OF THE DAMN MACHINE IN AN UNKIND FASHION IF IT KEPT DRIVING ME BATTY AND SO I KNEW I HAD TO DO SOMETHING.

BURIED IN THE MANUAL WAS A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF HOW TO BUILD A PROGRAM TO START THE BLASTED THING AND GET THE COMPUTER GOING SO THAT YOU COULD INSTALL THE TAPE WITH THE OFFICE PROGRAM ON IT. WHAT ELSE COULD THIS BLOGGER DO EXCEPT LEARN TO WRITE A PROGRAM.

 DONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ONLY FOUR LINES BUT IT PROVED TO BE A PATH PAST THE BLINKING RED LIGHT INTO THE CAVERNS OF THE COMPUTER AND THE REST AS THEY SAY IS HISTORY.

THAT FIRST OFFICE PROGRAM WAS SIMPLE, CLEAR AND VERY WORKABLE !!!!!!!!!!!!  THEY FIGURED IF YOU GOT YOURSELF INSIDE TO USE IT,  YOU DESERVED A REST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT'S WHY NOW WHEN I FUSS AT THESE OVER COMPLEX, CONVOLUTED, HEAVY HANDED OFFICE PROGRAMS, THERE IS GOOD REASON. I PRODUCED A LOT OF COPY ON THAT TANDY WORD PROCESSING PROGRAM AFTER BRINGING IT INTO THE BOWELS OF THE COMPUTER BY TAPE RECORDER AND LEARNING THAT ERASING WAS NO LONG NECESSARY. DELETING HAD ARRIVED.  YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THERE WAS NO PAPER TO THROW OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH !!!!!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!

 THIS BLOGGER  OFTEN SAID SOMEONE SHOULD BUILD A PROGRAM TO RUN THE THING AND LO AND BEHOLD THEY DID.  HOWEVER, UNFORTUNATELY AFTER THAT MARVEL APPEARED, THE COMPUTER JOCKS FADED BACK INTO THE WEB AND THE PROGRAM MAVENS APPEARED AND HAD TO PROVE THEIR WORTH. SO THEY TINKERED AND TINKERED AND TINKERED AD INFINITUM WITH THE REALLY WORKABLE PROGRAMS TO GIVE  MORE AND MORE HELP BECAUSE WE WERE ALWAYS IN DEEP DO-DO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND A LOT OF WHAT THEY PRODUCED WAS AMAZINGLY GOOD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT WAS WHEN THEY ATTEMPTED TO IMPROVE ON WHAT WAS SIMPLE, STRAIGHT FORWARD AND USABLE THAT IT WENT TO HELL IN A HAND BASKET.

SO LINE SPACING GOT PUT UNDER PARAGRAPHS, FONT GOT BURIED IN TYPE ADJUSTMENTS, COLOR BECAME A LITTLE BUTTON. IN FACT BUTTONS BECAME AS COMPLICATED AS THAT FANCY TUXEDO SHIRT OR SPECIAL BLOUSE YOU WORE NEW YEARS EVE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S  LIKE THE OLD GAME OF WHICH BOX IS IT UNDER-----ONLY IT'S A BUTTON AND ONLY GOD AND THE TECHNICIAN REALLY KNOW WHICH BUTTON TO LOOK UNDER SO ONE POKES ALONG FINDING OUT WHAT'S UNDER THIS OR THAT BUTTON UNTIL AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...........YOU HIT ON THE RIGHT ONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PUH.......................LEEZE COMPUTER GURUS GIVE US A BREAK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAKE ONE BUTTON DO ALL THE NECESSARIES AND SAVE THE OTHER BUTTONS FOR THE UNNECESSARIES OR THE ONCE IN AWHILE OR THE NEW MOVES YOU CAME UP WITH BUT .................LEAVE THE MAJOR THINGS IN TYPING ALONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LEAVE LINE SPACING (REGULAR ONE AND TWO LINES), INDENTATION,  INK, PARAGRAPHS BETWEEN THOUGHTS, PUNCTUATION AND SO FORTH.

 MICROSOFT WORD PROCESSING GEEKS: DO NOT------------PLEASE DO NOT--------------ADD ANY FANCY STUFF TO THAT LIST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KEEP IT SIMPLE ------------MAKE IT THE FIRST BUTTON AND PUT NOTHING ELSE ON IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PUT ALL THOSE FANCY COLUMNS, SYMBOLS,  SPACING PROBLEMS ETC. ETC. IN ANOTHER PLACE AND IF YOU CAN DO THIS TELL THE  PROGRAM BOSS TO GIVE YOU A RAISE AND HIRE YOU TO RUN THE WHOLE SHEBANG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BRING BACK SIMPLICITY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT THE SIMPLICITY OF THE FIRST COMPUTERS WITH NO HELP BUT THE SIMPLICITY OF THE SIMPLE CONTROLS OF AN OLD TYPEWRITER BUT KEEP DELETE SO WE CAN LOOK GOOD AS TYPISTS AND GET ON WITH LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS BLOGGER LOVES  COMPUTERS AND THE FREEDOM THEY OFFER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS BLOGGER IS NOT SO FOND OF THE TECHNICIANS THAT SEEM TO FEEL THAT IN ORDER TO KEEP THEIR JOBS THAT THEY HAVE TO INSTALL, INSTILL, INVOKE NEW !!!!!!!!!!! EVERYTHING.

CUT IT OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FIX THE OLD AND MAKE IT RIGHT THEN LEAVE IT ALONE.

LOOK AT THE OLD MACHINES. THEY HAD THEIR FAULTS BUT THEY COVERED MOST TEXT EMERGENCIES VERY WELL. NEW AND IMPROVED IS NOT ALWAYS EITHER NEW OR IMPROVED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ASK ANY INNOVATOR AND THEY WILL TELL YOU "SIMPLE IS PROFOUND" !!!!!!!!!!!!TRUTH !

CHEERS, CONNIE