Re: Giving up on giving it up ...

["mhchoate" mhyerchoate@xxxxxxxx]

Hello Jordan -- (and Flash) ....
I'm glad I hadn't deleted the message from "Flash" that you refer to ... I
just found it still in inbox, and read it ... glad I did ... especially for
the "I could hardly fail to disagree with you less." .... love it .... am
still parsing to make sure it means what I think it means ....
Oh you bet, part of the problem is the level of my efficiency in the XyWrite
stuff ... and the steep learning curve for total replacement .... as well
as money spent on multiple packages -- (let me say MORE money -- I've
already bought some stuff I don't like) .... I do have Access, and still
plan to master that .... (it took my buying THREE books before I found a
hint of how to do what I wanted to do .... the third book at least told me
that what I wanted to do -- a basic application, I thought -- involved
"programming" ... this third book didn't cover "programming" .... but at
least it told me that was what I had to look at) .... now, my Access
software is installed on my previous computer -- I have no intention of
putting it on this laptop (runs slow enough as it is) .... this laptop is
going to be my XyWrite computer as long as it works .... I will install
Access on my next OtherStuff computer .... but Phwew .... (laughing at
myself) ...... I need to buy an XP book to know how to maximize some things,
but I guess if this XP is already on verge of being obsolete, I better wait
.... Yikes ..... I don't learn stuff by reading online documentation, or
Help screens -- I need a book I can take to bed! ....
The rather expensive current-well-respected indexing software I bought,
though an excellent program, does not provide a feature I find absolutely
necessary for working with any reasonable level of efficiency. I cannot
imaging having to work in it exclusively. A great adjunct maybe, but I need
my XyWrite!  There are a couple of other things I bought that I did learn
how to use, and ran into a missing feature.

Thanks for the smile.
Marge
----- Original Message -----
From: "J R FOX" 
To: 
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 12:03 PM
Subject: Re: Giving up on giving it up ...
--- mhchoate  wrote:
I might try harder to
wean myself from XyWrite. But to heck with it. The
things I've got working
in it are just too good to give up. Nothing else
does it for me -- both for
my work (indexing books) and also for some personal
stuff. (I've tried
other things with disappointing results.)

(Also picking up on what Flash just said about
maintaining an ancient VW):

There is the tool, or vehicle, or device . . . and
then there is the user and what he or she may have
invested in developing a polished skill set that puts
it to best advantage. Many years ago, a cousin of
mine was a professional photographer, shooting
(mostly) ads, but also some covers for major
magazines. The companies buying one or dual-page ads
to showcase their products were far more than
demanding about every tiny detail. They would send
stylists (for the precise look of whatever it was),
and nervous account execs to look over every shoulder
and perhaps micro-manage things.

My cousin usually used full Hasselblad rigs, which at
the time were among the most expensive 35mm. (or was
it even a larger frame ?) gear on earth. On one
occasion, however, when the client did not know, he
shot a major ad page using a very old Kodak Brownie
camera, which could have turned up in some pawn shop
for chump change. Why ? For the challenge of pulling
it off. He did, the results were great, and the
client was never the wiser. It was, simply, a matter
of the skill and knowledge of the photographer.

This is not even an appropriate comparison though,
because -- in this scenario -- Xy would be more like
one of the great vintage Leicas.


Jordan