Writing Ideas (I)

I would like to let my readers know that I will shortly be posting in a new format, where I’ll be riffing off of articles, essays and stories that I’ve read and that I think can lead to interesting new forms of writing when mildly modified. These could be beginnings of short stories or novels, or entire news articles. I might severely condense them in length, or merely change some words here and there. I might have the original available online or not. I rather think it will be more fun if the original is not online, and for the full enjoyment of what I’ve written, you will need to purchase the original. That way, my work can also be a spur for the sales of some other writer’s work. This will increase my karma and ensure me a better life in Heaven or in my next incarnation on this planet.

My endeavor, or idea, might be better understood with the aid of an example. Suppose we take the famous short story that begins thus:

A Thought on the Poor State of Software Technology

I just realized that computer operating systems haven’t gotten to the point, where I can type in, “Run the program that reads PDF files,” and the computer runs the version of Adobe Acrobat/Reader that is installed on it.

In the next stage of evolution, even if no such reader is installed, the computer will automatically say something like, “You need to install a program called Adobe Acrobat/Reader,” and then tell me how to do it.

When this happens, I will consider operating systems to have reached version 1.0, from the point of view of usability.