Outlaw Outlining in Word!
Forgive me, dear Readers, for subjecting you to a diatribe about the tedium that is law school life, but I need to use this forum for a little venting every now and then.
Why is it so hard to find good, reliable outlining software? Everyone talks about it (http://www.innovationtools.com/Articles/ArticleDetails.asp?a=107) but no one seems to offer anything practical and affordable. True, there are many sites out there that extol the wonders of software from ages past (http://john.redmood.com/organizers.html) but this is 2005! Where are the replacements of yesteryear? Where are the new replacements for the most basic tools from the days of old?
I’ll tell you: Microsoft doesn't care, so why should other companies? Sure, there are plenty of companies which offer high-grade tools for specific industries and a plethora of software developers who have created do-everything suites, but am I alone in just wanting a reliable, intuitive, and stable piece of software which doesn’t put me at risk for a massive coronary? Microsoft Word’s “outlining” feature is a joke. No, it’s not a joke because a joke is supposed to be funny. I cannot count the number of times I have nearly rammed my fist into the LCS screen of my laptop because a “B” instead of a “1.” has shown up in my end-of-the-semester Property Law outline. Foul thoughts of tortious conduct percolate throughout my head, displacing useful and constructive thoughts about adverse possession whenever Word’s continued penchant for misplacing textual cues rears its ugly (and undeniably stupid) head.
I’m sorry, but I can’t take it anymore. I have wasted too much time trying to develop a working outline to continue using this piece of junk software. I am this close to wanting to hand-write my outline, although then Word would win because I cannot write nearly as fast as I can type. Frustrated because I can’t get rid of this ball-and-chain necessity, I looked around the web for alternatives- anything that could relieve me from having to incessantly customize (now that’s a joke!) my outline settings, even though I just told Word that I want “1.” to follow “A.” to follow “I.” I guess I’m just too smart for it (the sarcasm is so palpable)...
Ok, so I haven't used Corel Wordperfect since.... 1996 (good old 5.1)? But can you blame me? Our school uses the Office suite exclusively so the externalities generated would be somewhat formidable. I know you can convert Word docs to WP ones and vice versa, but something invariably gets lost in the translation.
Can anyone convince Balmer or Gates to buy a clue and implement some useful changes in the next version of Office for a change? I don’t need five animated Office “helpers” (Clippy or whatever that stupid thing’s name was annoying enough). I don’t need animated tooltips that try to guess which menu options I don’t want to use (they’ve never guess correctly yet). I need to have an outlining feature that sequentially and logically allows me to create an outline without requiring any format guidance from me. Then I can actually get some work done- and maybe sleep for a change. Wouldn’t that be nice?
posted by Unknown @ 3:16:00 AM
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