ScuzzBlog: Diaries December 2019
Entry 24th December 2019: Post 01: CED - The power of the text editor.
CED - The power of the text editor.
Words are very powerful as are numbers. What computers did more
than anything else was to realise the full potential of words,
characters, symbols and numbers. Maths and written text finally
merged in a way that gave so much power to what we now know as
the graphical user interface. Whether it be telephone, tablet
or computer, the world that most seem to rely on is a vision
of that which we read through a computer screen. Most view the
written text and images as the only product of the computer but
those that know the inner mind of the computer see the Matrix
of lines of characters, symbols and numbers that give life to
all that we sense from our devices.
It is therefore very easy to confuse a text editor with a simple
word processor. Time was that lines of text moved the minds of
human kind by literal interpretation of the text. However when
computer programming revealed a way to map predictable results
through use of simple instruction, those symbols, numbers and
characters took on a whole new powerful meaning. All this is
only possible by converting text into programmable instruction.
That is why a text editor is so powerful.
It was the first thing I realised when first using a computer.
In the very early years, lines of instruction were the only
form of communication with the computer. Therefore it became
most important to treat words and organisations of text in
very significant literal terms. There could be no haphazard use
of language. Both maths and text editing became a precise
process and one that needed order and structure. The creation
of written dialogue with the computer gave you more power the
more you understood what could be achieved. The complexity was
in the user instruction, as the computer was capable of
interpreting instruction to achieve endless possibilities.
The magic part was that once you had achieved the desired
result the written programme was repeatable without failure.
Once you had invented and created the process you could
guarantee the result every single time.
Why do I say all this, well, I love text editors. I am using
one to create this web page. Written in amongst the words that
you see are symbols and numbers that the computer interprets to
give the desired results. And it is a language that is known
universally and can be interpreted by simple transmission
across the web. You can try to write a line of word processing
text to convince a computer to do something, but you will
achieve nothing until it is processed and adapted by a text
editor and presented in a format that can be understood.
Like I say, in the early days I was limited to BASIC commands
and writing text in lined sequence so that the computer could
carry out my instructions. By the time I moved to CP/M and
RPED I was entering into another world. The hidden world of
computer programming where everything you wrote mattered and
had significant meaning. Anyone who has spent hours bug chasing
around a program trying to unravel why a program fails, will
appreciate just how powerful a single, character, number or
symbol can be.
By the time I reached the Amiga I was already needing of a
powerful text editor. At first it was a struggle but then came
along CED. I don't think I used anything else to write with
on the Amiga. If not for programming but for AmigaGuide docs.
For me what I wrote had to generate more than simple text. In
truth if simple text was all I was creating I may as well use
pen and paper. CED still lives with me on the Amiga and I just
couldn't survive without it on that platform.
I have seen some quite disturbing comments of late from MS
regarding the usage of Notepad. On Jan 20th I will lose support
for Windows 7. This is a dreadful problem for me. Windows 7 is
the last in the line for Microsoft. Everything else is just
a glorified telephone. There are no real alternatives for me.
I am just too set in my ways to try and use Linux. And Apple
products are so far up their own arse it's impossible to yank
any credible base computer usage from its orifice. I need my
text editor to give my computer power. I drive my computer
not the other way round.
It is very difficult to explain to the current mobile phone
society what it means to be able to cut the line to the internet
and to orchestrate and manipulate words, text, symbols etc to
create a powerful tool for 'true' personal use. Most of what I
create on my computer is not for public consumption. It is for
my benefit and my amusement. I do not share this with anyone.
Historically the computer has been a great benefit in this
process. I fear that the developers of the devices we use now
are becoming detached from its origins and making the process
of using a computer a simple search, find and response procedure.
I am not of that world. I will say no more. In truth, the day
that I am forced to use a mobile phone as an excuse for actually
using a computer will be the day I pull the plug on the internet.
It may be seen for most as essential for computer use these
days, but if if it prevents and hinders me in what I do here
then I will have no qualms in pulling the plug.
Fortunately CED will live on for as long as I maintain an Amiga
here. I have the professional version along with the free-bee
that came with Amiga Computing in 1995. I doubt that there is
much that I have written here that makes any kind of sense to
readers. All I would finish on is this simple desire and that
is to enjoy what I do, and how I do it in the way that I want
to do it. And trust me, as the years have gone on it really is
getting harder and harder with each passing year.
CED - The power of the text editor.
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