The Great "Hard Return" Debate

[Ralph Cohen]

On Fri, 5 Nov 1999 12:13:41 -0800, Steve Lamb wrote:

>Friday, November 05, 1999, 11:44:40 AM, Ralph wrote:
>
>> People using email programs don't expect to have to download, install,
>> configure, learn and integrate a text editor into their email programs just
>> to perform a basic email function like responding to a message or creating a
>> new one. 
>
>    Who said anything about downloading, installing, configuring and so on?
>Ralph, we've had this discussion on this list many times before.  You *KNOW*
>that my argument is that an editor be bundled, preconfigured and installed.
>This is what pine does with pico on the unix world.
>

Sorry Steve, I though the whole idea was to let people choose the text
editor with which they are most familiar or which satisfies all of
their various text editing needs and precisely not force them to use
the one bundled with a particular program.  Quite frankly, I've used 
Pine and Pico and while I find them immensely useful when I telnet into
certain systems, I certainly wouldn't want to have to depend on either
one as my primary email or editing tools.


>> Even though there are a myriad of functions included in separate text
>> editors and graphics programs that are not included in integrated email
>> and spreadsheet programs, they are functions that are of little or no
>> use to the vast majority of the people using the integrated packages. 
>
>    Incorrect.  Just because you don't know of them doesn't mean that they
>aren't useful.
>

Wrong.  Just because you do know of a function doesn't mean that it is
useful to you.  A dosimeter is a valuable tool if you're an x-ray
technician or work in a nuclear power plant, but I don't have any need
for one nor is it likely that 99.99% of the rest of the population has
a need for one.  Hex editing may be a function which you and I value
highly in an editor, but it is of little or no use to the vast majority
of email users.


>> Most people want a single integrated email package that performs all the
>> basic email functions - including composition - and which requires the least
>> amount of handholding.
>
>    Then tell me how a bundled, preconfigured external editor is any different
>than an intergrated one to those people?
>
>    It isn't.
>

Sure there is.  Do they share the same terminology, vocabulary, fonts
and colors in their help screens, pop-up menus and RMB options?  If the
program crashes is there just one number to call or support desk to
contact?  If the mailer is updated will its authors be able to force
the editor's authors to update their product if needed in order to
remain compatible?  Will downloadable updates be provided in a single
integrated package which includes both the mailer and editor upgrades?


>    But to the power user it is a *LOT*.  And remember, as people gain
>experience they want to be able to do more.
>

I don't want my employees to become 'power users'.  For them, the
computer is just another piece of office equipment like a copying
machine or a stapler, all of which are simply tools for accomplishing
the tasks they have been assigned.  Being a 'power user' is not part of
their job descriptions and should not be a prerequisite for using the
computer effectively.  I run a medical device manufacturing company and
not a computer service agency.  My company has just one power user - me
- and sometimes even that's one too many.<g>

>
>    There *IS* a market out there that isn't addressed.  That is the market
>that does *NOT* want everything in one package!  The person who wants to have
>the specialized programs to do specialized things and is willing, nay eager,
>to mix and match.  Pursue that market and you're one of a very select few
>choices.  Pursue the mass-market and you're nothing more than a copycat of the
>dozens upon dozens of other offerings out there, many of which are larger,
>more intergrated, free and preloaded.
>

The problem is that while the market which is looking for simple
integrated solutions is growing, the market looking for specialized
integratable components is not.  It's not that the simple integrated
solutions are better, it's just that they appeal to a wider variety of
people who see their computer the same way they look at their VCR, i.e.
just another piece of electronic equipment that they want to be able to
use with the minimum amount of effort and without having to RTFM. 
PMMail provides the ability to plug in your own text editor if that is
what you want, but it would lose virtually all of its non-techie
customers if it removed its built in editor.  The built-in editor needs
only a minor amount of work to make it fit the needs of 99%+ of all
email users.  This should still leave plenty of time to add the IMAP
support that you and others have been asking for.

Ralph

rpcohen@neurotron.com