Comments on: Lessig on the limits of copyright http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sat, 26 May 2012 14:07:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: nnyhav http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58536 nnyhav Wed, 26 Jan 2005 19:10:21 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58536 <a href="http://www.ipaction.org/">FWIW</a> FWIW

]]> By: des von bladet http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58535 des von bladet Wed, 26 Jan 2005 16:22:13 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58535 jet: Maths ("math") and physics departments are where (La)TeX is mostly found. Personally, I've run Linux since 1995 (kernel 1.2.13 nostalgia, yo!) and the next computer I buy will be a Mac for very sure: Linux is now almost as militantly unwilling to tell you what's going on ("user friendly") as Windows, without any obvious compensation. And I produce all my documents in LaTeX and while it is the best there is at what it does, getting it to do things package-authors didn't expect you to want to do often sucks, in the American idiom, ass. And Lamport's book is without question the worst technical documentation I've paid stand-alone cash for. So there. jet: Maths (“math”) and physics departments are where (La)TeX is mostly found. Personally, I’ve run Linux since 1995 (kernel 1.2.13 nostalgia, yo!) and the next computer I buy will be a Mac for very sure: Linux is now almost as militantly unwilling to tell you what’s going on (“user friendly”) as Windows, without any obvious compensation. And I produce all my documents in LaTeX and while it is the best there is at what it does, getting it to do things package-authors didn’t expect you to want to do often sucks, in the American idiom, ass. And Lamport’s book is without question the worst technical documentation I’ve paid stand-alone cash for. So there.

]]> By: Kieran Healy http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58534 Kieran Healy Wed, 26 Jan 2005 14:26:52 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58534 <i> And for Linux, if you want a distro useable by non-techies, try Fedora Core 3.</i> Or Mac OS X. (Ducks out of sight.) And for Linux, if you want a distro useable by non-techies, try Fedora Core 3. Or Mac OS X. (Ducks out of sight.)

]]> By: jet http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58533 jet Wed, 26 Jan 2005 13:57:56 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58533 uhhh, Now that is funny. TeX is in the same family as LaTeX. Linux is where both applications are mostly found (coming default in most distros) and is often found incomprehensible to those coming from a Windows background. So, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are the idiot here, tough guy. As for anyone who finds LaTeX difficult, there are great manuals you can look at online or order from Amazon. And for Linux, if you want a distro useable by non-techies, try Fedora Core 3. You will probably need someone with *nix skilz to help you on the install though. uhhh, Now that is funny. TeX is in the same family as LaTeX. Linux is where both applications are mostly found (coming default in most distros) and is often found incomprehensible to those coming from a Windows background. So, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are the idiot here, tough guy. As for anyone who finds LaTeX difficult, there are great manuals you can look at online or order from Amazon. And for Linux, if you want a distro useable by non-techies, try Fedora Core 3. You will probably need someone with *nix skilz to help you on the install though.

]]> By: des von bladet http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58532 des von bladet Wed, 26 Jan 2005 10:31:49 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58532 <blockquote> <i>[C]ompanies would do well to delete [Powerpoint] from everyone elses disk drives, and hire profressionsals to work with people in preparing their presentations.</i> </blockquote> Yeah, right after they hire a secretary to type for me and fix up (as they used to, although not for me) the infelicities of my prose...
[C]ompanies would do well to delete [Powerpoint] from everyone elses disk drives, and hire profressionsals to work with people in preparing their presentations.
Yeah, right after they hire a secretary to type for me and fix up (as they used to, although not for me) the infelicities of my prose…

]]> By: Kieran Healy http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58531 Kieran Healy Wed, 26 Jan 2005 05:03:41 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58531 LaTeX is perfectly intuitive, once you learn it. LaTeX is perfectly intuitive, once you learn it.

]]> By: edhall http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58530 edhall Wed, 26 Jan 2005 03:13:02 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58530 The problem with powerpoint is what used to be the problem with "word processing" before business got wise: high-salaried executives spend entirely too much time noodling with its superabundance of features and wind up with an inferior result. In the hands of someone competent in designing presentations Powerpoint is an important tool. But companies would do well to delete it from everyone elses disk drives, and hire profressionsals to work with people in preparing their presentations. The problem with powerpoint is what used to be the problem with “word processing” before business got wise: high-salaried executives spend entirely too much time noodling with its superabundance of features and wind up with an inferior result. In the hands of someone competent in designing presentations Powerpoint is an important tool. But companies would do well to delete it from everyone elses disk drives, and hire profressionsals to work with people in preparing their presentations.

]]> By: John Quiggin http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58529 John Quiggin Wed, 26 Jan 2005 02:03:05 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58529 LaTeX presentations are a big source of grief for me. I use Scientific Word as a front-end, and I've never been able to find a presentation style that works for me. LaTeX presentations are a big source of grief for me. I use Scientific Word as a front-end, and I’ve never been able to find a presentation style that works for me.

]]> By: Nerd Alert http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58528 Nerd Alert Wed, 26 Jan 2005 01:55:50 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58528 "did you mean Latex, rather than Linux? (idiot)" NEERRRRDDDD!!!! “did you mean Latex, rather than Linux? (idiot)” NEERRRRDDDD!

]]> By: uhhh http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58527 uhhh Tue, 25 Jan 2005 21:57:43 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58527 did you mean Latex, rather than Linux? (idiot) did you mean Latex, rather than Linux? (idiot)

]]> By: Hektor Bim http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58526 Hektor Bim Tue, 25 Jan 2005 21:51:03 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58526 dsquared: "But on the other hand, experts love Linux and TeX, and I’ve found both of them to be unusable pieces of crap." Try making a presentation in Latex, and you'll see that it's perfectly easy to make a decent presentation without the ridiculous defaults or file incompatibilities that plague Powerpoint. Not liking Latex is like not liking the air or roads if you are a mathematician or scientist. You're showing your biases here rather strongly. dsquared: “But on the other hand, experts love Linux and TeX, and I’ve found both of them to be unusable pieces of crap.” Try making a presentation in Latex, and you’ll see that it’s perfectly easy to make a decent presentation without the ridiculous defaults or file incompatibilities that plague Powerpoint. Not liking Latex is like not liking the air or roads if you are a mathematician or scientist. You’re showing your biases here rather strongly.

]]> By: dsquared http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58525 dsquared Tue, 25 Jan 2005 21:39:46 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58525 Everywhere I've ever worked, there has been an organisation-wide standard template for presentations, and it's usually been pretty unobjectionable. I'd be surprised if the defaults were widely used in a professional context either. I'm sure that professionals will find all sorts of irritating things about .ppt - statistics bores have a scunner against Excel too. But on the other hand, experts love Linux and TeX, and I've found both of them to be unusable pieces of crap. It's very much horses for courses. My real disagreement with Tufte is the idea that there is a "cognitive style" of Powerpoint that can in some way be blamed for all the shortcomings of presentations. I just don't think it's true. Even quite bad Powerpoint presentations aare usually better than the heap of rubbish the presenter would have come up with without .ppt. Everywhere I’ve ever worked, there has been an organisation-wide standard template for presentations, and it’s usually been pretty unobjectionable. I’d be surprised if the defaults were widely used in a professional context either. I’m sure that professionals will find all sorts of irritating things about .ppt – statistics bores have a scunner against Excel too. But on the other hand, experts love Linux and TeX, and I’ve found both of them to be unusable pieces of crap. It’s very much horses for courses. My real disagreement with Tufte is the idea that there is a “cognitive style” of Powerpoint that can in some way be blamed for all the shortcomings of presentations. I just don’t think it’s true. Even quite bad Powerpoint presentations aare usually better than the heap of rubbish the presenter would have come up with without .ppt.

]]> By: JRoth http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58524 JRoth Tue, 25 Jan 2005 21:24:49 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58524 "get" Not "got" Stupid git. “get” Not “got” Stupid git.

]]> By: JRoth http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58523 JRoth Tue, 25 Jan 2005 21:22:08 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58523 kcindc - Is that supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing? I'll concede d-squared's underlying argument - that Powerpoint facilitates some appropriate organizational principles - if he'll concede that the default visual product is rubbish. As Keynote demonstrates, this need not be so. However, MS's absolute dedication to the principle that anything worth doing is worth doing unattractively has lead to countless bits of ugliness foisted on unwitting audiences. Furthermore, it isn't just the wizards (and I would challenge your bald assertion about their (non)prevalence), but the built-in defaults themselves. I spent an afternoon setting up a clean, attractive template suited to the kinds of presentations that I do, but still find myself wasting time on every presentation undoing things that PP tries to make me do. It is, in fact, in many ways similar to so much MS software, in that the defaults are enforced, not merely what you get if you don't tell it otherwise. Take the (meaningless) example of IE and Outlook on the desktop. I prefer a desktop with no program icons, but MS refuses me that option for no reason that benefits me. Sorry to got so OT on a rant, but as a designer, I think it's important to use all available nails in crucifying Bill Gates. kcindc – Is that supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing? I’ll concede d-squared’s underlying argument – that Powerpoint facilitates some appropriate organizational principles – if he’ll concede that the default visual product is rubbish. As Keynote demonstrates, this need not be so. However, MS’s absolute dedication to the principle that anything worth doing is worth doing unattractively has lead to countless bits of ugliness foisted on unwitting audiences. Furthermore, it isn’t just the wizards (and I would challenge your bald assertion about their (non)prevalence), but the built-in defaults themselves. I spent an afternoon setting up a clean, attractive template suited to the kinds of presentations that I do, but still find myself wasting time on every presentation undoing things that PP tries to make me do. It is, in fact, in many ways similar to so much MS software, in that the defaults are enforced, not merely what you get if you don’t tell it otherwise. Take the (meaningless) example of IE and Outlook on the desktop. I prefer a desktop with no program icons, but MS refuses me that option for no reason that benefits me. Sorry to got so OT on a rant, but as a designer, I think it’s important to use all available nails in crucifying Bill Gates.

]]> By: Sebastian Holsclaw http://crookedtimber.org/2005/01/25/lessig-on-the-limits-of-copyright/comment-page-1/#comment-58522 Sebastian Holsclaw Tue, 25 Jan 2005 17:25:05 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2792#comment-58522 "The sheer physical necessity to plan ahead in order to get one’s Powerpoints printed probably means that more speakers are at least thinking about their presentations in advance. This can only be a good thing" This is possibly the best thing that powerpoint has done. Going to meetings where the speaker doesn't know what he is talking about it no fun. “The sheer physical necessity to plan ahead in order to get one’s Powerpoints printed probably means that more speakers are at least thinking about their presentations in advance. This can only be a good thing” This is possibly the best thing that powerpoint has done. Going to meetings where the speaker doesn’t know what he is talking about it no fun.

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