dgoldstone.pa@Xerox.COM (08/17/87)
From: David dgoldstone <dgoldstone.pa@Xerox.COM> Maybe this was covered before I joined the mailing list (beginning of the summer) but something has been bugging the hell out of me: Why is it that to get GeoWrite Version 2.0, we have to spend $30 and by this Writer's Workshop thing?? I spend $40 bucks on Geos, which I admit was a great buy. GeoWrite, nonetheless, was much less than the copy of MacWrite it proclaimed itself to be. Besides the screen scrolling (which there is no way around, given the graphis limitations of the 64), there are some basic design problems with both the editor and formatter which are considered standard on normal editors. First is the problem of getting around the screen without using the mouse, which you couldn't do. I mean COME ON!! If I dont like the next to last word I typed, I should be able to cursor back to it and fix it. I shouldn't have to delete the whole last word. Second is the search/search and replace problem. If I am writing a document of any more than a page, then I want to be able to replace a word for another word - no problem. GEOS doesnt have it. I should be able to search for a word, and GeoWrite doesnt have it. Third is the haders and footers and super and subscripts. They should all be standard, or there should be some way to generate them, but there isn't, really. I called up Berkeley, and they said that i could get an update to geowrite 1.3 (i think) which had cursor movements, which is one/third of the problem, but why did i have to call them up to find that out?? Why didn't they tell me? Further, if they are so willing to give updates, why wont they update to GeoWrite 2.0 (packaged in Writer's Workshop)? I know they have to cover the cost of making the improvements (which, let me reiterate, should have been there to start with), but COME ON, the original GEOS, with the OS, the Paint, and the Writing program cost me $40; how can some minor bug fixes to the Writing program cost me $30? I sent a letter to Berkeley in March or April from school, back east, they haven't answered yet. I have called many times, and no-one will talk to me; I have tried to set up appointments, now that I have been in Palo Alto for the summer, and they refuse. What is going on? Am I missing something? Berkeley software has tried to act like a serious company, and treats the 64 like PC companies treat the PC. I like that, but I am appalled at having to BUY my updates. This is ludicrous. I could have *copied* GEOS if I wanted to - a friend of mine said he broke it - but I didn't, because, ethical issues aside, I felt that customer support and all that bull-caca were worth $40 (which is a lot for a college student on financial aid). Anyway, tell me if I am missing something, please. Maybe I have somehow gone about this the wrong way. (And please dont flame about the copying issue [I didn't copy the damn thing] - I just want GeoWrite 2.0 and am willing to pay $5 for it - that seems reasonable to me. I'll even erase my old versions of GeoWrite) If you want to not tell the whole list your thoughts on the matter, mail me here at Xerox for the next week; then I go back to school on the other coast so mail me there, please. At Xerox: dgoldstone.pa@xerox.com At MIT: stone@oz.ai.mit.edu stone@prep.ai.mit.edu Thank you very much. ----- D.Goldstone - call me 'Stone' (too many davids in this world)