Re: Is XY-Write a word-processor or a text editor?

[Jane Van Tassel 101233.342@xxxxxxxx]

On 11 Dec 00, at 20:02, Michael Edwards wrote (in part):

>   ... Is XY-Write a full-featured word-processor ...
> ... or is it simply a text editor ... ?
> ... my brother ... is a computer professional, and therefore
> presumably knows what he is talking about ...

With the greatest respect to ME's brother, that "therefore" won't stand up
to scrutiny. My brother, too, is a computer professional -- and was one in
the early 1960s, before any of us had learned to call them "computer
professionals" -- and when it comes to procedures like word processing and
text editing, he's no more likely to "know what he is talking about" than
the celebrated man in the street.

When it comes to computers, in fact, it is I who _am_ the man in the
street, and I know far _more_ than my brother does about what a WP is, what
it should/must be able to do, and what it _shouldn't_ do. My brother's
experience convinces him that any program that isn't the "industry
standard" in its field isn't worth anyone's attention. Indeed, he seems to
have reached the position -- even though it's a position that contradicts
everything he himself has achieved in the last 40 years -- of refusing to
respect a program that does a precisely defined task extremely well rather
than doing many things badly.

As for what that "precisely defined task" is, I can't improve on the
description posted by Steve Hayes (shayes@xxxxxxxx). Except to add the
distinction drawn by one of our number a while back: a program like MSWord
is a machine, but XyWrite is a tool. The machine performs the specific task
it was designed for; the tool enables its (human) user to perform many
tasks. How well the machine performs depends on the skill and imagination
of its original designer; how well the tool performs depends on the skill
and imagination of its end user.

Cheers
Eric Van Tassel

e-mail: EricVT@xxxxxxxx
Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire SG8 7SL, U.K.