Text File

Aucbvax.2130 fa.works utzoo!duke!decvax!ucbvax!STECKEL@HARV-10 Mon Jul 6 03:04:26 1981 Ivanciw's ideas &c: comments From: STECKEL at HARV-10 As an implementor type, I have a few questions. When I work, I have at least three stacks of things on my desk (where each stack has sub-sub-sub-, etc. stacks):

a) what I am trying to do on a long term b) what I started this morning because it's gotta be done today c) the phone rang and you need it when?!?!

So... the idea of "kept context" is a nice one, but I suspect that there could be a lot of mess. What happens in Randy's scenario when the phone call about line 78 (+ or -) required the use of (1) messages (2) filing cabinet? How do you "file" where you were in a file cabinet? My file cabinets have about 3000 things in them.

I also have a quibble about the "desk" key. If the interactive whizzes can make the super page screen work, I would much rather never have my "desktop" hidden... I trust my machines about as far as I can throw them when it comes to saved contexts. Why doesn't the "phone", "pad", etc. stay around in "icon" form? Part of the idea of piles is that you can still see the existence of a pile, even if you're not too sure what's in it.

Unrelated quibble concerning EMACS, &C. I am in the (lonely) minority of those who cannot stand EMACS, and have limited tolerance for any screen editor I have yet seen.

A) all I have experienced know far too much about what I "want" to do (words, lines, etc. are too fully built in) Quick, what does your screen editor call a "word"? B) the mouse-type input ones use too many hand motions - I touch type my TECO commands; why should I have to slow down? C) the control-meta-shift ones make me use many fingers at once. I don't like that either. Also, the more obscure the character, the less likely it will survive (1) my memory (2) the system deciding it wants that character

This is merely to say that I think editor design is in the dark ages, and EMACS ain't God.

Back to Ivanciw's scenario: Does he envision a page printer, etc., for that item in the file cabinet? My file cabinets are full of brochures from manufacturers which arrived by U.S. Snail. Do we encode them with a TV camera? I have had much difficulty trying to digest any message longer than about 25 lines via any screen. The present Workstation message blizzard gets imaged out on a Calcomp (nee Gould) 200 dot-per-inch plotter in "micro" form (280-character columns per page) so I can sit down and quit craning my neck at the screen.)

Anyway, my point is: the workstation seems great if all I/O is within the electronic environment, but falls down when you get things like hard paper involved. I hope I provoke a little controversy.

geoff steckel

----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen <jgoerzen@complete.org> of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/

This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided:

1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles.

2. The following notice remains appended to each copy:

The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.