can you see the future?

[Wander Nauta]

Heh, you make this rise of light markup sound like some kind of conquest...
Anyway, both Byword (bought it, used it) and Marked (looked at it but
decided it's too expensive) seem like great apps and good additions to the
Markdown ecosystem.

I don't get your stance on PDF, though, bowerbird. I wouldn't call PDF a
scourge. It's my format of choice for keeping documents that have a layout I
spent time on. PDF does that pretty well.

Cheers,
Wander

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 21:17, <Bowerbird at aol.com> wrote:


> looks like my message from last week

> about writing tools was right on time...

>

> we are enjoying a display of fireworks

> now going off in this particular arena...

>

> fletcher started work on an editing app

> with markdown-preview built right in,

> after reporting on his blog that he had

> "seen the future" in ali's post last month,

> where ali debuted his syntax highlighter,

> and fletcher is releasing versions daily...

>

> >   http://fletcherpenney.net/2011/06/ive_seen_the_future

> >   https://github.com/fletcher/MMD-Edit/downloads

>

> further, there are now many more apps

> for the ipad/iphone which use markdown,

> compared to when i looked a month ago.

>

> i've bought almost all of them, and found

> that none of them hits the sweet spot yet,

> but some of 'em are getting kinda close...

>

> and really, what i'm looking for isn't hard,

> so i'm sure someone will get there soon...

>

> in the meantime, there's experimentation:

> >

> http://www.tuaw.com/2011/06/17/paragraft-gets-ios-markdown-editing-right/

>

> ***

>

> markdown support on desktop machinery

> is also increasing, as has been noted here:

> >   http://www.tuaw.com/2011/05/23/byword-1-2-now-with-markdown-support/

>

> since most writers still write at their desks,

> that kind of support continues to be vital...

>

> ***

>

> the articles at those last two links are by

> brett terpstra, who's also just released an

> overarching tool that can be set to "watch"

> (i.e., monitor) markdown files (i.e., .txt files)

> output from other programs, and re-convert

> 'em to .html each time they are re-saved, so

> -- with this tool -- _every_ text-editor can

> now be described as "markdown-compatible".

>

> an auto-converter, itself, isn't a big deal, but

> terpstra's app -- "marked" -- also provides a

> preview pane of its conversion, making such

> "markdown support" more than a line of hype.

>

> that is, it can be run simultaneously with the

> other text-editor program, thereby giving you

> "instant feedback" if your results are incorrect,

> while you are still in the text-editor to fix 'em.

> this is an extremely valuable pedagogical asset.

>

> "marked" has other charms too.  (for instance,

> it generates .pdf output which is serviceable.)

>

> and yes, it has glitches too -- some characters

> cause it to go blank, and (worst of all, for me)

> it seemingly will not handle files which do not

> have an extension (and none of mine do) --

> but it _is_ brand new, so we hope it improves.

>

> there are, however, some problems inherent

> in this approach.  i execute saves _frequently_

> -- on the order of once a minute, i'd guess --

> but i'd like to see a re-rendering more often

> than _that_.  but i just can't see how "marked"

> would ever be able to provide that.  moreover,

> it'd be nice, when writing more than a snippet,

> if the display anchored at the insertion-point,

> not always presented from the top of the file.

> "marked" _could_ take measures to implement

> that feature, but i'm uncertain its programmer

> will see the need, or feel the feature is worth it.

>

> so i believe a light-markup text-editor which

> embeds its own output-display will be better.

>

> but despite these few shortcomings, "marked"

> is clearly a step forward in the right direction.

> and gruber sent its site 10,000 hits yesterday,

> and hopefully terpstra enjoys a great payday...

> ("marked" is now in the top-10 of paid apps.)

>

> so even in the mere week since my last post

> on this topic, things have improved greatly...

>

> yes, it's true that most of this improvement is

> occurring on the mac side, when light-markup

> is a benefit that can truly work cross-platform.

> (face it, folks, it's truly the only way that we can

> rid the world of the scourge known as ms-word.)

>

> and yes, it's also true that there's still too much

> emphasis on light-markup as a vehicle to .html,

> instead of enlightenment about its broader value

> for archiving, as an alternative to heavy-markup.

> (face it, folks, it's truly the only way that we can

> rid the world of that other scourge, called .pdf.)

>

> but given the last month, especially the last week,

> i'd think we can be quite happy with the progress...

>

> light-markup is on the march...

>

> -bowerbird

>

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