Martin and His WordStar 4.0
  Last update at 17 Sep 2018 10:32

I was told by my fiend that apparently George R. R. Martin, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, did his work on an outdated machine, using WordStar 4.0. Feeling that it is highly implausible, I searched the internet and found several articles confirming it. Although people may refer this feat as wonderful, I call this feat a complete nonsense.

The articles are from e-Teknik, CNET, The Verge, TechCrunch, and Slate. Question is: why?

Martin and WordStar 4.0

If you do not know what a WordStar 4.0 is, you can read the article from Wikipedia. The interface is as follow:

Very primitive.
Very primitive.

I remember the program fully during my 90s computer class, thus are very aware of how the program works. This making Martin's response, during interview with Conan O'Brien, weird. Martin said:

I hate spell-check, yes.

WordStar 4.0 did come with spell-checking options. The command is even visible on the UI.

That two.
That two.

So if he hates spellcheck, why he still bother using WordStar 4.0? When he was asked the reason for using WordStar, he said:

I actually like it. It does everything I want a word processing program to do and it doesn't do anything else. I don't want any help, you know? I hate some of these modern systems where you type a lowercase letter and it becomes a capital. I don't want a capital. If I wanted a capital I would have typed a capital. I know how to work the shift key!

That does not make any sense. If all he does not like is the autocorrect function, why won't he just disable them? Or just use Notepad?

This program. Much cleaner than WordStar 4.0.
This program. Much cleaner than WordStar 4.0.
Argument
Notepad cannot do Bold, Italic, or Underline!
Just use freaking Wordpad.
And this is an included program within Windows.
And this is an included program within Windows.

Although a minimum rich text word processor, Wordpad offers far higher advantage over WordStar 4.0.

Negative Implications of using WordStar 4.0

Let's say that Martin indeed uses WordStar 4.0 to do his works. Doing so will have great negative implications, and believe me, I tried to look for any positive implications.

The risk of Old PC

According to the e-Teknic article, Martin uses a 30 year old PC, which means that he owns it since the 80s. From my knowledge as a PC technician, the older the PC, the higher the appearance of X factor (unknown factor that can make PC not working as intended, such as disk write error). Which means the higher the chance of him losing his entire work. Would a person like him, whose life is from writing stories, can take a risk like that?

Argumen
What if he is just that brave?
I dare you to write your Theses on a 80286 computer. If you're lucky, you can get the 25 MHz model.
Argumen
What if the hard disk is new?
How recent can an 80s PC read a hard disk? Due to the compatibility between file system and the DOS, it's probably a relatively small hard disk around 504 MB - 4 GB tops (depending on BIOS). Theoretically, he can use larger hard disk and let only 2-4GB being used out of the total size, but that sounds really, really wasteful. Also, theoretical.

Writing Aftermath

Martin does not publish A Song of Ice and Fire. Bantam Books did that. If the script really was made using WordStar 4.0, how can the editor edit and print it? To give you a better image, let's see the following comparison:

A bit werid, but otherwise normal.
A bit werid, but otherwise normal.

This is the first paragraph of Hippopotamus article from Wikipedia that I directly type to the program. You can see that the word "Hippopotamus" has a markup that appears as "^B", this is a bold markup. On the top-left of the screen you can see the file name, HIPPO.TXT. To clarify, WordStar does not have a standard file format, I just add the txt for easier opening in Windows.

Next, I open the file on my preferred text editor, Notepad++:

You deserve a prize if you can edit that text without looking at the source text, and without losing your sanity.
You deserve a prize if you can edit that text without looking at the source text, and without losing your sanity.

In other words, files created in WordStar 4.0 are not compatible with standard text file.

Next comparison is using a SHIPPO.TXT file that I created in windows and edited in Notepad. I filled this file with the text from the same article:

Very normal.
Very normal.

Then, I opened the file on WordStar:

Also normal.
Also normal.

Then, I saved the file in WordStar and opened it on Notepad++:

Quite normal.
Quite normal.

There's many unknown character added to the end of file. Take note that each line on these files are created manually using the Enter button, not the result of WordWrap. In case of the first file, HIPPO.TXT, WordStar automatically adds a Newline character, so it appears as a justified text. To better understand it, here's the second file, SHIPPO.TXT, opened in WordPad:

Do I have to reconnect all that line?
Do I have to reconnect all that line?

Can you imagine how many lines that must be fixed so the whole text look tidy and ready to print? This is only one paragraph. What if there's one book worth of text that needs treatment like this. Martin's editor must be very patient.

Closing

There's no logical reason why Martin uses WordStar 4.0, unless he has secret reason, or just want to piss off his editor.

Indonesian

Saya dikabari oleh teman saya mengenai bagaimana George R. R. Martin, pengarang A Song of Ice and Fire, menulis karyanya tersebut di MS-DOS. Teman saya kemudian memberikan pranala ke artikel Kompas. Dalam artikel yang bersumber dari BBC Indonesia ini, dikatakan bagaimana Martin telah menggunakan sistem operasi kuno tersebut sejak 2011.

Pikiran pertama saya adalah, omong kosong besar. Anda tidak bisa menggunakan MS-DOS untuk mengolah kata. MS-DOS adalah sistem operasi, bukan aplikasi pengolah kata. Apakah Martin menggunakan MS-DOS Editor? Saya rasa tidak mungkin mengingat aplikasi tersebut memiliki fungsi yang amat sangat terbatas.

Satu hal lagi yang membuat saya geli:

Martin menggunakan sistem operasi kuno tersebut sejak 2011.

Saya kira 2011 adalah tahun dimana dia tahu tentang MS-DOS? Tapi saya tidak akan gali lebih dalam, bisa saja ini salah penulisan tahun, karena artikel lain tidak mengatakan demikian.

Menurut e-Teknik, Martin mengetik menggunakan WordStar 4.0 di mesin berbasis MS-DOS yang berusia 30 tahun. Dalam artikel lain, semua mengatakan bahwa Martin menggunakan WordStar 4.0 (contohnya dari CNET, The Verge, TechCrunch, dan Slate), jadi saya rasa dia menggunakan WordStar 4.0 untuk mengetik, bukan MS-DOS. Nah, jika memang beliau menggunakan WordStar 4.0, pertanyaan berikutnya, mengapa.

Martin dan WordStar 4.0

Jika anda belum mengetahui seperti apa itu WordStar 4.0, anda bisa membaca artikelnya di Wikipedia. Singkatnya, tampilannya seperti ini:

Amat Primitif.
Amat Primitif.

Dalam wawancaranya dengan Conan O'Brien, Martin berkata:

I hate spell-check, yes.

Apakah Martin tahu bahwa WordStar 4.0 memiliki fungsi spell-check?

Yang itu.
Yang itu.

Ketika ditanya alasan mengapa Martin menggunakan WordStar, ia berkata:

I actually like it. It does everything I want a word processing program to do and it doesn't do anything else. I don't want any help, you know? I hate some of these modern systems where you type a lowercase letter and it becomes a capital. I don't want a capital. If I wanted a capital I would have typed a capital. I know how to work the shift key!

Jadi, apa alasannya dia pakai WordStar 4.0? Bukankah Notepad juga merupakan pengolah kata yang tidak melakukan hal lain? Bukankah Notepad tidak memiliki fungsi autocorrect?

Lebih bersih dari WordStar.
Lebih bersih dari WordStar.

Jikalau ada dari Anda yang berargumen bahwa Notepad tidak bisa melakukan bold, italic, underline, bagaimana dengan Wordpad?

Ini bawaan Windows, loh.
Ini bawaan Windows, loh.

Implikasi Penggunaaan WordStar 4.0

Katakanlah Martin memang menggunakan WordStar 4.0 untuk menulis naskahnya. Menggunakan aplikasi setua ini akan memiliki implikasi ke arah bawah dan samping. Mari kita telaah.

Resiko PC yang Sangat Tua

Menurut artikel e-Teknik di atas, komputer yang digunakan martin berusia 30 tahun, yang berarti komputer tersebut dimiliki Martin sejak tahun 1980. Semakin tua PC, resiko faktor X yang mengakibatkan lumpuhnya PC akan bertambah. Untuk sesorang yang hidup dari menulis, apakah iya dia mau mengambil resiko menggunakan komputer tahun 80 (yang entah kapan bisa mengaktifkan faktor X) untuk mencari nafkah?

Argumen
Bagaimana kalau harddisknya baru?
Sebaru apa harddisk yang bisa di pasang di PC tahun 1980an? Kalau mau harddisk tersebut terbaca di sistem 80-an tentunya ukurannya tidak begitu besar, mungkin hanya maksimal 2GB (mengingat tipe yang digunakan tentunya hanya FAT16 buatan tahun 1987). Jadi tentu saja, harddisknya tidak mungkin baru.

Penerima Naskah

Martin tidak menerbikan A Song of Ice and Fire. Bantam Books yang menerbitkannya. Jika naskah memang dibuat dengan WordStar 4.0, bagaimana menyunting dan mencetak naskah tersebut? Mari kita lihat perbandingan berikut ini.

Tampak ada yang aneh?
Tampak ada yang aneh?

Ini adalah paragraf pertama dari artikel Hippopotamus dari Wikipedia yang saya ketik ulang. Pada gambar di atas, kata "Hippopotamus" dicetak tebal dan terlihat seperti ^BHippopotamus^B. Ini adalah penanda umum di WordStar. Untungnya, penanda ini bisa disembunyikan. Terlihat di kiri atas, nama berkas ini adalah HIPPO.TXT. Sebagai catatan, txt bukanlah ekstensi standar WordStar, saya hanya menambahkan saja. WordStar sendiri tidak memiliki standar ekstensi berkas.

Berikutnya berkas ini saya buka di Notepad++:

Sumpah cuma saya buka.
Sumpah cuma saya buka.

Anda layak dapat bintang jika Anda bisa mengedit tulisan tersebut tanpa melihat sumbernya. Ini tanda bahwa berkas yang dibuat di WordStar 4.0 tidak bisa dibuka dengan benar di luar program.

Perbandingan berikutnya adalah menggunakan file txt yang saya buat di Windows, kemudian di edit di Notepad. Berkas ini saya isi dengan kopi paragraf pertama dari artikel yang sama. Berikut tampilannya di Notepad++:

Tampak normal.
Tampak normal.

Berkas ini kemudian saya buka di WordStar 4.0. Hasilnya sebagai berikut:

Tampak normal juga.
Tampak normal juga.

Selain spasi yang berbeda, tulisan tampilan berkas ini di Notepad++ dan WordStar 4.0 sama. Sekarang berkas ini saya simpan di WordStar 4.0 dan saya buka di Notepad++. Hasilnya sebagai berikut:

Tampak normal?
Tampak normal?

Tulisan sama sekali tidak berubah, hanya ada tambahan karakter di akhir file. Perlu diingat bahwa tiap baris pada berkas yang dibuat oleh WordStar 4.0 maupun Notepad, bukan baris hasil dari fungsi word-wrap. Baris tersebut dipisahkan oleh karakter Newline, yang nama lainnya adalah linefeed (LF), mungkin Anda lebih kenal jika anda menekan tombol Enter saat mengetik di Microsoft Word.

Agar ada sedikit gambaran, berikut tampilan berkas yang dibuat di Notepad dan dibuka di Wordpad:

Tampilan teks yang sama di WordPad.
Tampilan teks yang sama di WordPad.

Terbayang berapa banyak baris yang harus dibetulkan agar terlihat rapi dan siap cetak? Itu baru satu paragraf, bagaimana kalau satu buku? Siapapun editornya Martin, orangnya pasti sangat sabar.

Penutup

Bagi saya, tidak ada alasan logis mengapa Martin menggunakan WordStar 4.0, kecuali beliau memiliki alasan terselubung, atau cuma ingin bikin kesal editornya.

Very primitive.
Very primitive.

I remember the program fully during my 90s computer class, thus are very aware of how the program works. This making Martin's response, during interview with Conan O'Brien, weird. Martin said:

I hate spell-check, yes.

WordStar 4.0 did come with spell-checking options. The command is even visible on the UI.

That two.
That two.

So if he hates spellcheck, why he still bother using WordStar 4.0? When he was asked the reason for using WordStar, he said:

I actually like it. It does everything I want a word processing program to do and it doesn't do anything else. I don't want any help, you know? I hate some of these modern systems where you type a lowercase letter and it becomes a capital. I don't want a capital. If I wanted a capital I would have typed a capital. I know how to work the shift key!

That does not make any sense. If all he does not like is the autocorrect function, why won't he just disable them? Or just use Notepad?

This program. Much cleaner than WordStar 4.0.
This program. Much cleaner than WordStar 4.0.
Argument
Notepad cannot do Bold, Italic, or Underline!
Just use freaking Wordpad.
And this is an included program within Windows.
And this is an included program within Windows.

Although a minimum rich text word processor, Wordpad offers far higher advantage over WordStar 4.0.

Negative Implications of using WordStar 4.0

Let's say that Martin indeed uses WordStar 4.0 to do his works. Doing so will have great negative implications, and believe me, I tried to look for any positive implications.

The risk of Old PC

According to the e-Teknic article, Martin uses a 30 year old PC, which means that he owns it since the 80s. From my knowledge as a PC technician, the older the PC, the higher the appearance of X factor (unknown factor that can make PC not working as intended, such as disk write error). Which means the higher the chance of him losing his entire work. Would a person like him, whose life is from writing stories, can take a risk like that?

Argumen
What if he is just that brave?
I dare you to write your Theses on a 80286 computer. If you're lucky, you can get the 25 MHz model.
Argumen
What if the hard disk is new?
How recent can an 80s PC read a hard disk? Due to the compatibility between file system and the DOS, it's probably a relatively small hard disk around 504 MB - 4 GB tops (depending on BIOS). Theoretically, he can use larger hard disk and let only 2-4GB being used out of the total size, but that sounds really, really wasteful. Also, theoretical.

Writing Aftermath

Martin does not publish A Song of Ice and Fire. Bantam Books did that. If the script really was made using WordStar 4.0, how can the editor edit and print it? To give you a better image, let's see the following comparison:

A bit werid, but otherwise normal.
A bit werid, but otherwise normal.

This is the first paragraph of Hippopotamus article from Wikipedia that I directly type to the program. You can see that the word "Hippopotamus" has a markup that appears as "^B", this is a bold markup. On the top-left of the screen you can see the file name, HIPPO.TXT. To clarify, WordStar does not have a standard file format, I just add the txt for easier opening in Windows.

Next, I open the file on my preferred text editor, Notepad++:

You deserve a prize if you can edit that text without looking at the source text, and without losing your sanity.
You deserve a prize if you can edit that text without looking at the source text, and without losing your sanity.

In other words, files created in WordStar 4.0 are not compatible with standard text file.

Next comparison is using a SHIPPO.TXT file that I created in windows and edited in Notepad. I filled this file with the text from the same article:

Very normal.
Very normal.

Then, I opened the file on WordStar:

Also normal.
Also normal.

Then, I saved the file in WordStar and opened it on Notepad++:

Quite normal.
Quite normal.

There's many unknown character added to the end of file. Take note that each line on these files are created manually using the Enter button, not the result of WordWrap. In case of the first file, HIPPO.TXT, WordStar automatically adds a Newline character, so it appears as a justified text. To better understand it, here's the second file, SHIPPO.TXT, opened in WordPad:

Do I have to reconnect all that line?
Do I have to reconnect all that line?

Can you imagine how many lines that must be fixed so the whole text look tidy and ready to print? This is only one paragraph. What if there's one book worth of text that needs treatment like this. Martin's editor must be very patient.

Closing

There's no logical reason why Martin uses WordStar 4.0, unless he has secret reason, or just want to piss off his editor.
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