Re: New York Times is at it Again

[Paul Williams paulwilliams5@xxxxxxxx]

Thanks for sending me this famous article by America's arch luddite.

I would just like to add this to the debate - though inevitably it is a
one-sided debate in an Internet forum!

I was a journalist on the Sunday Telegraph, which prided itself on its
writing. In the 'good ole days' with battered typewriters I was just a
news reporter, allbeit the education correspondent. I considered I
should regularly contribute to the features pages, they considered I was
just not good enough, so lots of tears. The trouble was that I was a
'lazy' writer, or a reporter in a hurry to get on to the next story. All
that screwing up of paper and starting again was not for me, and if I
had produced copy full of deletions and alterations the subs, er no the
news editor first, would have thrown it back in my face.

Then I 'borrowed' an Apple II from Apple. No cursor control keys, and
only to be mentioned in a hush in case it upset the printing unions.
Suddenly freedom!!!! Had I used the same epithet twice? Change it with a
couple of key strokes. Too long? Sub it on the spot before it got
slaughtered by the subs. I experienced what must be the same sense of
liberation as all those ladies who burnt their bras...

Result? I was doing main news features every other week on every subject
under the sun. Suddenly Paul Williams could write!

And even then I did not suffer from computers hanging up etcetera
etcetera. So, as you all out there know anyway, this essay is the
biggest load of balls I have read in a very long time.

Mind you, there is a sad ending to this tale.As an early pioneer I was
made a systems editor to manage the transfer to new technology, became
head of systems and then got fired because I had the dreadful temerity
to disagree with our American consultant whose last task had been
reorganising a wine shop. So now I languish in SW France running a small
but beautiful hotel (which, plug, plug, you can see at
http://123voyage.com/realsw/pers/hotelvp.htm )

Paul Williams