Replacing Microsoft

Google.docs is what I am using at this moment. Will keep this going in an attempt to replace Microsoft Word. Still need to copy word.docs to Google.docs to keep my production routine humming. I’ll let you know how this is working.

Meanwhile, I reflect on how the tools we use are somehow becoming the main topic rather than the work, creativity and substance of the content of these tools. Isn’t the novel more important than the paper? The math theorem doodled in an academic paper is more vital to mankind than the ink or pen used to write it, isn’t it?


Please say this is so! I spend a lot of time mulling over disparate ideas and facts, put them together and assess what those concepts mean in discerning broader meanings important to you and me. 


Think back to early school days. Blackboards, chalk and erasers were the common tool of instruction. Words spoken by the teacher helped students understand the concepts presented on the board. But the concepts were important, not the blackboard. An easel pad of paper could have been used. A book with the same material printed in it was often used so the student could take the material home and study it. 


Yes, the paper, ink, chalk and blackboard were and remain important to us, but they are not the central concept we are presenting, studying, learning about. It is the concept in our focus. The other things are mere tools. Important in their own right, but not the primary point.


At some point technology becomes a utility to us. It is a necessary component of what we do each day to earn our living or do daily chores. Technology is important. It allows us to do many things in different ways and faster. The mechanics of using the utility may even speed up our thinking process and nurture broader thinking and perspectives. We do more, learn more and create more.


Yes. Technology is important and vital. How then to pay for it? How then to perfect it, evolve it into yet newer forms of utility. And then pay for it by whom?


When did the bridge become public property? The roadway, curb and storm basin?


Soon wi-fi and internet access will be common utilities paid for by government and 'we the people.' Why? Because it becomes like the air, airwaves and broadcast medium of our daily lives. 


Cutting anyone out of this access hurts us all, shrinks our common good and achievements. We are stunted by barring access to anyone. Like the library, radio and TV signals, and education itself, we nurture social creativity and its advancement by including everyone. It is utility.


Thanks, Microsoft for what you have done. It is stupendous. It has made you wealthy beyond the wildest of dreams. But how do you now derive a profit and sustenance without leaving vital parts of our society outside your borders?


February 3, 2022

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