Customer Reviews

The Pc is Not a Typewriter

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Every day we read books and magazines that following standard typesetting rules (such as putting only period after a sentence), yet almost all of us who now use computers (a tremendous typesetting tool) continue to type as if we are still using a typewriter. The result looks unprofessional, which we accept because we have never thought that we could produce text that looks like a typesetters.

This small book explains better than any other why we did certain things on typewriters that were never done by profressional printers--and why we need to stop doing them now that we are using computers.

Since it was published in 1992 I have been giving copies of this small, readable, beautifully arranged book to anyone who types for me or organizations I work with. Just the first few pages can tremendously improve the profressional appearance of a letter, and what it does for newsletters is phenomenal.

Everyone I've ever told to put only one space after a period, or how to properly use dashes, has insisted I must be wrong. They become believers after I refer them to any magazine or book, and they become converted to proper typing after I give them this book.

Rarely will you get more bang for your buck than with this little gem. Make sure you buy at least two, because you'll immediately think of someone to give a copy to.

I found this book when it was first published as "The MAC is..." and it has been my Bible ever since. I have given it out to everyone who has ever worked for me or with me. I am a trainer and in any class that has anything to do with typing it is standard reference material.

I cannot believe we still have 'teachers' teaching people how to type that do not adhere to professional typesetting standards. This book opened my eyes to the beauty you can create in the type written page. 'Corporate' people positively comment on documents that I have delivered as "elegant" or "easy to read" or "so professional" because I adhere to the principles set forth in Ms. Williams book.

I think this easy to read, well designed, and information packed book should be required reading for any person that touches a keyboard!

As a newswriter, I regret not getting this book when I first saw it here. Writing press releases is an exacting task when it comes to punctuation, spacing and page setup. Had I followed the tips in this book, I would not have the chore of reformatting my templates next week. Simple things like one space after a period at the end of a sentence is only one of the valuable tips in the book. The explanations of why we should do things differently on a PC are clear. The reasons why things are done differently on a typewriter are just as useful. This little book also covers how to make your type easy to read with plenty of examples to prove its points. Buy it.

Even though this book is 8 years old, it remains essential reading. It's extremely accessible, and can be read cover-to-cover, or used as a reference. There's a quiz in the back of the book to help you to actually retain the material. I've bought several copies, and I loan them out when I think the recipient will be receptive. (Some people are hopeless when it comes to good design.) This book is worth owning by itself, or as a primer to Robin Williams' other books.

I did pick up one or two useful hints in this book. If you haven't managed to figure out for yourself that two spaces after a full stop (period) just looks plain stupid, then you will probably get a lot of utility from this book. As other reviewers have said - it is extremely short and light on content - you'll probably read the whole thing in an hour.

My main beef with this book is that it is very outdated. It contains solutions for many issues which are now handled automatically by modern operating systems and packages. There is constant mention of packages and keyboard shortcuts for programs that just don't exist anymore, many not even in the memories of most people (does anyone remember Ventura Publisher?)

The copyright notice at the front says 1992, and no printing date was listed. Surely after 14 years and selling so many copies Peachpit Press would have a bright idea to update this book for the present day? Different issues to examine and different ways to generate certain characters. If they had done this I would have found the book three times as useful.

I took great care to include two spaces after a period and before starting the next sentence. Williams explains why this in incorrect and why so many of us do it religiously, along with a host of other typographic rules. It's relatively short, the writing is concise and interesting and if you type on a computer you'll use what you learn from this book every day.

This and its companion "The Mac is not a Typewriter" are so important to everyone who writes a letter, types an e-mail, designs a sign, or creates a presentation. In short easy to understand lessons disguised as chapters, the reader learns everything that was lost when computers replaced typesetters. Though most Macintosh users are professional designers, they won't need this book, but for the millions of PC users out there, this is irreplaceable. I keep four or five copies of this book in my desk. Anyone I find that is breaking these rules and willing to learn how to make their published documents better, I hand them this book to read first. Don't try to learn it all at once. Read a couple chapters and master those skills, then read the next couple chapters. This book sits next to my dictionary and MLA Style Guide on my desk for ready reference.

This is an excellent book, but for only 50 pages of content, it is a little overpriced. The price should be $5.

I was surprised how much I learned from it, even though I worked in computerized typesetting for over 15 years as a software developer, most of it before the PC was even invented. The stuff I didn't already know had to do with typographic conventions that didn't affect software features, e.g., I knew about the en dash, but didn't know about its use in hyphenating compound words. For the stuff I did know, it gave me a much better way to explain it to others than I could have thought of.

On the typesetting systems I worked on, two spaces after a sentence-ending period was perfectly fine. It was what the journalists writing the articles were used to. Our software treated 2 or more spaces as a single space for line breaking and typesetter output. This is how HTML has always worked. In the pre-computer days most journalists used a typewriter then handed it to a typesetter to re-enter it.

I first read this book years ago as required reading for an employer and I will continue to share its guiding techniques with others. This should be required reading for anyone who does any kind of desktop publishing.... especially supposed professional pieces!! I would love to see Robin update it as some of the computer application references are quite outdated.

I cannot say enough good things about this woman's writing. She breaks the normal rules of teaching by rote, instead helps to impart a holistic understanding of the pros and cons of the technology, and thus it becomes obvious how to use it to the best effect. I have taught seminars using her books as reference materials, and recommend that everyone should own this book who uses a computer. Most people today learn technology by rote, this does not give a person the understanding necessary to face different software versions, or even different challenges that pop up everyday in the workplace. Many books written on technology are only good as doorstops, as they perpetuate the step by step learning by rote crap. This book, very thin and unassuming in it's length, get's in a user's brain like yeast and expands to help them to be able to comprehend WHY things work the way they do. I hope she writes a lot more books, especially one for Windows users, like her Little Mac Book. She deserves to be famous, successful, and prosperous.