09.04.07
Ditching Word makes you more productive and allows you to produce better documents
There are times when I have ideas, and I discharge them onto the page, without really thinking them through and making them readable. One such case is where just lately I splurged rant about open standards for documents. I’ve just finished reading this brilliant article by Steve Poole about why he stopped using Word (on a Mac no less - it’s never occurred to me to install any Microshite on my Macs), and how this has not only made him more productive, but also allowed him to enjoy working more and (and here’s the kicker) to make sure his documents are future proofed!
That’s what I should have been trying to explain when I was ranting and raving about OOXML being a bag of shite, I should have been explaining that proprietary document formats (which OOXML is ironically trying to remove and as a result of poor design enforcing), are the major problem. They lock you into a company and a product (and lets not forget how easily both can be lost). By using open standards, such as .txt (and in some ways rft and LaTex), you free yourself from the shackles of having to work how somebody else wants you to.
I with I were more eloquent at times, but then again, Mr Poole is a professional writer, and I am a professional geek.
