Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!decwrl!labrea!rutgers!mtunx!whuts!whutt!mls
From: mls@whutt.UUCP (SIEMON)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Technotes in FullWrite???
Summary: yeah, but ...
Message-ID: <3273@whutt.UUCP>
Date: 3 Jun 88 16:13:38 GMT
References: <13005@shemp.CS.UCLA.EDU> <10493@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <568@natinst.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 30

In article <568@natinst.UUCP>, brian@natinst.UUCP (Brian H. Powell) writes:
> In article <10493@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>, jmm@thoth4.berkeley.edu writes:
> > Why even put out tech notes in MacWrite, much less FullWrite?

>      Because, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...

One problem is that MacWrite is no longer an integral part of a Macintosh;
we have, in effect, Apple touting for Claris.  I am in full agreement with
the need for diagrams in tech notes, but I observe that e.g. my copy of
WriteNow has some difficulties importing some illustrated MacWrite files.
No format converter is going to be perfect (consider putting the new color
PICT2 files into a document -- whatever may be true of NEW versions of some
word processors, old ones won't handle them.)  The cost of tech notes now
has a hidden cost for at least one purchase of a (possibly expensive)
word processor -- and may require multiple purchases if the format used by
Apple changes over time.  (Has this been the case? is the format frozen???)

This posting is not mere complaint:  I (a new Mac owner) am in fact about to
plunge for the set of tech notes from APDA, and I DON'T KNOW whether I can
read the disk versions!  As I said, I have the current version of WriteNow;
I don't want to buy MacWrite (old or new) or WordPerfect or FWP or any other
while the editor wars are as heated as they now are.  Any advice?

Oh yeah; one other point.  I have Turbo Pascal as my toy introduction to
Mac programming and am planning to get MPW 3/C++ when they arrive.  Does
that seem sensible to anyone?
-- 
Michael L. Siemon
contracted to AT&T Bell Laboratories
ihnp4!mhuxu!mls
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