anti-word

Gregory Nowak gnowak1 at uic.edu
Sun Jan 13 17:40:40 EST 2002


Thank you Amanda.
Greg


On Sun, Jan 13, 2002 at 03:21:03PM -0500, Amanda Lee wrote:
> Absolutely Greg and very eloquently expressed.
> 
> Amanda
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gregory Nowak" <gnowak1 at uic.edu>
> To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
> Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2002 3:02 PM
> Subject: Re: anti-word
> 
> 
> > Janina,
> > First of all, we are not talking about publication (or at least I'm not in
> the sense of the word). Also, by taking upon your self the conversion of
> word documents into plain text, I feel that you are not only encouraging but
> also supporting the very thing you and the rest of us disscussing here are
> against.
> > If you want to teach a bird to find its own food, you won't feed it
> continually, you will let it out the window or whatever so that it can
> learn.
> > Greg
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Jan 13, 2002 at 02:47:47PM -0500, Janina Sajka wrote:
> > > Greg, I run into this all the time. Since I'm the minority--the non-word
> > > user--I take it upon myself to translate the contents into something I
> can
> > > read, and usually don't bother the sendor about it unless they send me
> > > something that just doesn't translate well. That's my usual approach.
> > >
> > > If, the document in question is meant for publication as opposed to
> > > something that passes between two or three people, then it's a very
> > > different story. Then they don't get to be ignorant in my view. But, as
> I
> > > said, that's another story. I didn't think we were talking about
> > > publication.
> > >
> > >  On Sun, 13 Jan 2002, Gregory Nowak wrote:
> > >
> > > > Yes, I do. However, you seem to be missing the point I'm trying to get
> across here. So, let me give you an example.
> > > > A professor of mine was handing out something that he had written for
> the class. Since I knew that he had written it by himself recently, I asked
> if he could e-mail me a plain text file instead, so I wouldn't need to mess
> with scannning the handout. His answer to me was: "you mean a word
> document?" I said "no, I mean a .txt file, a plain ASCII text file." He was
> still confused, so I said, "like the files that you create with notepad." He
> said "oh, ok."
> > > >
> > > > My point is as it was before. If all they know about their computer is
> how to turn it on and off, then how are they supposed to know about other
> platforms if they don't even know for sure what a text file?
> > > >
> > > > If some of you on this list want to blame the ignorant professor, then
> maybe you should blame universities, employers, and the way we learn and
> work today. Universities and employers are the ones today who tell you they
> want your papers in 12 point font, and formatted this way or that. Now, how
> are we supposed to achieve that in something like notepad/emacs/pico? And if
> someone else is wondering how the hell this guy became a professor without
> knowing crap about what kinds of files he could produce on his computer,
> then that is a new question to examine the answer to.
> > > > Greg
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Sun, Jan 13, 2002 at 12:29:50PM -0500, Janina Sajka wrote:
> > > > > Gregory, I keep telling you this answer, but there's some part of it
> that
> > > > > you seem to still miss. What part is that?
> > > > >
> > > > > They don't need to know a damm thing to retrieve either a text doc
> (no
> > > > > formatting), or an html doc (much formatting).
> > > > >
> > > > > They need know nothing special in order to do that. Do you
> understand this
> > > > > yet?
> > > > >
> > > > > On Sun, 13 Jan 2002, Gregory Nowak wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > And how do you expect them to know about the other platforms if
> all they know about their windows computer is how to turn it on and off?
> > > > > > Greg
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On Sun, Jan 13, 2002 at 12:17:03PM -0500, Charles Crawford wrote:
> > > > > > > Hello Amanda, Janina and other interested listers,
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >          Well, looks like the world of advocacy is impinging on
> planet
> > > > > > > Linux.  It is correct to point out that in the ideal there
> should not be a
> > > > > > > word processing standard imposed by a company, but as we all
> know, the
> > > > > > > sender of a word file getting a text file back might not see the
> world in
> > > > > > > the same way.  Don't you just hate it when that happens.  Smile.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >          I guess my view is that if word users want to
> communicate with
> > > > > > > those who don't use word, then they have to adjust to the
> realities of
> > > > > > > other computer platforms.  Consumer choice still has it's place!
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > -- Charlie Crawford.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > At 11:09 AM 01/13/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> > > > > > > >Amen! to that Janina!
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >Amanda
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >----- Original Message -----
> > > > > > > >From: "Janina Sajka" <janina at afb.net>
> > > > > > > >To: <speakup at braille.uwo.ca>
> > > > > > > >Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2002 11:06 AM
> > > > > > > >Subject: Re: anti-word
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > On Sat, 12 Jan 2002, Steve Holmes wrote:
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > Yes and if a word document is sent to you for your input
> and editing,
> > > > > > > >I'm
> > > > > > > > > > sure the original party would expect the thing to come
> back in Word
> > > > > > > >format
> > > > > > > > > > along with the built-in formatting, styles and such.  Some
> of this whole
> > > > > > > > > > anti Word sounds arogant to me.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > I rather think it arrogant to presume everyone wants and
> reads Word. I
> > > > > > > > > regard it as arrogant to presume we all pay tribute to
> Microsoft. I
> > > > > > > > > further regard it arrogant to treat a proprietary,
> non-consensus, file
> > > > > > > > > format as some kind of standard.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > >
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> > > > > > >
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> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > >
> > > > > Janina Sajka, Director
> > > > > Technology Research and Development
> > > > > Governmental Relations Group
> > > > > American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
> > > > >
> > > > > Email: janina at afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175
> > > > >
> > > > > Chair, Accessibility SIG
> > > > > Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
> > > > > http://www.openebook.org
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > Speakup mailing list
> > > > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > > > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > Speakup mailing list
> > > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> > > >
> > >
> > > --
> > >
> > > Janina Sajka, Director
> > > Technology Research and Development
> > > Governmental Relations Group
> > > American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
> > >
> > > Email: janina at afb.net Phone: (202) 408-8175
> > >
> > > Chair, Accessibility SIG
> > > Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF)
> > > http://www.openebook.org
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Speakup mailing list
> > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> >
> >
> 
> 
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