The Mac Is Not a Typewriter

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!

I started using this book years ago for my own work, and I don't think mine is all that bad! I have been using it as a text (and even its companion volume "The PC is not a Typewriter") for about 9 years in various university-level courses.I find that the material is highly relevant and well presented. I find it quite easy to discuss how to implement the ideas in our current software, and a quick spell in the computer lab with a real assignment gets the fundamentals into the students' minds. Very few of my students know beforehand the basic rules Williams sets out, and their work does improve as a result of this text. Roll on the revised edition in November, 2001! Yes, Williams was one of the earliest writers to produce a quality, informative book on this subject for beginners. Yes, the information is available in other places, but this is one of the most compact and well-presented places to find it. Combing through MacWorld and Adobe magazines is not the simplest way of finding the information, and 'Looking Good in Print' is a rather massive alternative source. Yes, the details of individual software packages are dated, but the fundamental ideas are not, and what sort of a teacher would I be if I couldn't figure out how to apply the ideas to our current software.Finally, at under ..., this is great value. Compare the less well-formatted, self-typeset, C programming standard text by Kernighan and Ritchie, with somewhat more pages and just two editions in 23 years, that is still ..., and see which might be better value. I use and love them both, but have few qualms about using Williams' book as a required text, compared to K & R.

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.

The reviewer identified as "sonpraises" says: "What is important for the non professional typist to know (use "smart" quotes, don't space twice after a period, italicize instead of underlining, create a long (em) dash by typing shift + option + -) are widely discussed in other places."They are widely discussed because Robin Williams brought them to the world's attention with the first edition of this book. Robin said elsewhere that the Macintosh brought about the greatest revolution in printing since Gutenberg. She was in the forefront of this printing revolution, giving people information once known and used primarily by printers, teaching graphic design and typography to the newly developed industry of desktop publishing.Some day we won't need Robin's book, because people will have forgotten the conventions used on a typewriter to show emphasis and the limitations of a typewriter's keyboard and mono-spaced type, and their computers will automatically provide smart quotes and em dashes. Until then, The Mac Is Not a Typewriter (and its twin, The PC Is Not a Typewriter) needs to be read and shared.

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.