[libreoffice-users] Re: Microsoft Revisits the '80s With MS-DOS, Word for Windows Source Code,

Your point is valid, but only in today's context.

It's hard to remember that, back then, the idea of actually "storing" your
document on one of those computer contraptions was somewhat left of absurd.

If the document was important, or even if it needed to be retained for legal
reasons, it would have been put in the traditional and reliable storage
mechanism known as a "file cabinet." Even back then, floppies were regularly
reused after the document was "done." And the idea that hard drives would be
available for less than a gazillion dollars per megabyte (and what the heck
was a megabyte anyway?). So, the best format was a silly and irrelevant
discussion.

The only things the new-fangled computer was good for (at least in terms of
word processing) were permitting changes without using White-Out,
automatically performing word wrap, and such things - and, remember, for
secretaries and typists, these were AMAZING capabilities. And did any of
them have the slightest suspicion that they were looking at what would
become their replacements? When was the last time you saw a typing pool? (if
you don't recall, that was where the typists went swimming during their
lunch breaks).

Thus, screen space was quite important. Back then, the concentration was on
improving the generation and presentation of documents.

So - if you were kidding, I apologize for responding seriously. We often
forget that, back in the dark past, Ken Olsen (DEC) couldn't conceive of
anyone ever having a computer in their home (what would he have thought
about "in their pocket"?). And Bill Gates famously said he couldn't see any
need for more than 16k of memory (he seems to have changed his mind over
time).

Have a great week ...



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