If yer looking for something of cosmic significance, this ain't it. It you are looking for sometimes disjointed ramblings of an over-educated redneck newspaper editor, you are in the right place.
Today, 24 Nov. 2025, The Wiregrass Farmer newspaper achieved something never before done in its history.
We put the entire paper out with InDesign, a computer program. The InDesign is the significant part. We've put the paper out electronically for years.
While this is not something that will shake your world, it did shake mine.
A BIT O' HISTORY
When I started this journalism journey more'n 40 years ago, the first computer system I learned to use was a Compugraphic. Text was typed into a video display terminal (VDT). After we put in the programming codes, it was sent to a a camera with spools of film inside.
The type came out on photographic paper which was developed in a different machine.
We then moved to a MicroTek VDT system. This was a glorified word processor with 12 terminals. It had about as much memory and storage space as cocker spaniel on meth. A laser printer spit out columns of copy we still have to cut and paste onto layout grids.
Then the Hall School of Journalism got a Mac, one of the originals with a 9-inch screen, self contained with a 3.5 floppy drive and the first electronic mouse ever seen on a computer at Troy State University.
At this time, The Greenville Advocate in Greenville ALA had a functioning Linotype which they still used for some things for the newspaper.
From Troy I moved to Nevada where we again used the Compugraphic. The office there also had Macs and there I was exposed to the first commercial version of Pagemaker. It mostly worked.
Back in Georgia, I returned to the MicroTek VDTs. After losing an argument with the then-editor, I moved to Florida, Windows 3.1 and an updated version of Pagemaker. I hate the PCs, but that is what we had.
Again back in Georgia at the newspaper where I presently work, I brought in Macs and Pagemaker. The week before I took over, they were using Compugraphic. The old Compugraphics were on their last leg both in our office and commercially. Pagination was taking over.
Soon, we upgraded computers and went to QuarkXpress. Quark was designed with newspapers in mind. It worked astonishingly well. I upgraded that twice and upgraded computers 4 or 5 times.
Around 2005, we started creating PDFs from the paginated computer images. We abandoned the physical page layout. The old wax machine was shut down. Hard copy pages were shoved into a corner. Pages were transmitted to the press over the Internet.
I forget exactly when, but I launched an Internet version of the newspaper on SurfSouth. I was one of the first in the nation and possibly the first in Georgia. It didn't last. Some years later the company bought domains for the papers and we went live online again.
TODAY
Today, for the first time, this week's newspaper was produced using InDesign, the Adobe software part of the suite of production tools. Last week was partly produced with the old Mac and the old Quark.
The old Mac remains in play as I migrate stuff from it to the new server. It will stay up and running for a while as it has stuff not yet moved over.
And, it has Quark.
InDesign was built with graphic designers in mind, not newspaper folks. ID works, but I am certain the latest iteration of Quark is better for what I do. Other offices use ID. We are now all on the same platform.
The learning curve was sharp, steep and sometimes painful. Quark shortcuts didn't work. Mac shortcuts did work, but they were/are of little help while using ID.
Robin spent time watching ID tutorials and learning how to run the new programs. She quickly learned what was needed to get her part of the paper done. Me? I managed, with her help.
We still have a lot to learn. We will.
THE FUTURE
If we ever have to upgrade computers and production software again, I may retire.
It is not a process I enjoy.
Over the years I have learned, and forgotten, several computer programming languages, several page production systems and several computer operating software systems. Even now, I feel my grasp of Quark slipping away as ID replaces what I know/knew. My knowledge of using a PC is eroding even faster and that makes me happy.
I read stories about how Gen Right Now gets irked with us older folks for not wanting to change and adapt. I get that. I was once a 20-something and jumped on new stuff with the enthusiasm of a honey badger finding Pooh Bear's secret stash.
Now, I'm far more Steve Martin about it.
"We're closed!" Steve said in one of his standup routines about aging.
Not prejudiced, not weary, not angry, not really apathetic and perhaps mildly annoyed, well, definitely annoyed at times. just done. We have learned, and forgotten, more than Gen Whatever knows. Been there, got the T-shirt, scars and ... yeah.
We are not interested in more change. Well, I am not interested in more change of the kind I just went through.
Change is on the way. It will happen. I cannot and will not stop it. But I don't have to participate in it.
