Comments on: Mac port of OED gets a resounding “F” from TUAW revewer

By: pond

pond — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:51:55 +0000

Mac fans will often criticize a program because it is ‘ugly.’ This usually has no bearing on the program’s functionality (sometimes it does, e.g., if the menu items are confusing).

So just because some text is jagged, the reviewer doesn’t trust the definitions? I imagine that ‘version 4′ (which must refer to the content of the words/definitions and not the program) has the same words and the same definitions as the MS-Windows version 4.

I would say if you are not going to be using copy and paste but simply looking up the words, the review has nothing to deter you. But I imagine I’ll be using my version 2 on a virtual machine; the OED prices are too rich for me to keep current — especially since my main interest is in old words and origins.

By: Jon Jermey

Jon Jermey — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:29:25 +0000

Something similar occurred when the Times decided to make their cryptic crosswords available on CD some years ago. They apparently decided that interface-writing was something a bright person could get the hang of in a weekend, and the result was the most appallingly useless product imaginable. I don’t think they sold many copies, because I picked mine up from a remainder bin.

Where is the cluegun when you need it..?

By: Tassia

Tassia — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 18:05:14 +0000

Have you tried your local (US) public library website? Mine has a link to the online version for only the cost of a library card number (which, in my town, is free).

I left a comment over on the TUAW post, so I won’t replicate it here. But, yes, a big disappointment.