Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: Script – A text editor for digitally interconnected documents

use-script.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 75 posts

Re: Show HN: Script – A text editor for digitally interconnected documents

#61

Post by jrm4 »

kevintouati wrote: post #39
jrm4 wrote: post #23

"Proprietary syntax highlighting system" is absolutely a deal-killer here. That would be the thing that would make me stand up and say "avoid this like the plague." Figure out how to do this without doing that. Obsidian did.

Thanks for this. Not sure I understand what the concern is. It's proprietary in the sense that it is unlike what you would have seen elsewhere. But it uses plain natural language (ie. no particular syntax or markdown - unlike Obsidian). It is also not opinionated and fully exportable to other tools.

That's not what "proprietary" actually means? It means the opposite of "free/open" in the sense of software. The implication (true or not) is that however you're doing the behind the scenes magic, you intend to keep that part a secret and/or behind intellectual property rights, such that I am not allowed to hack at it if I wish.

It is a possible way to "value-add" -- aka be the thing that people can't have unless they pay for it, that strategy is your choice and it's not a crazy or awful one per se. But I will not only always stay away from it, I'll always tell other people to as well.

So far as I have seen, it ALWAYS ends one of two ways: It ends up being open anyway or the company screws people over, eventually. I'm fine waiting for the former and not risking the latter.

Re: Show HN: Script – A text editor for digitally interconnected documents

#64

Post by cratermoon »

kevintouati wrote: post #54
cratermoon wrote: post #13

What does "digitally interconnected" mean? Also, out of curiosity, does the legal world still hang on to some obscure version of WordPerfect, or have they made the switch to Word?

Digitally interconnected .. means a way to connect multiple sections and documents across an entire project environment. Currently with MS Word, the idea is to produce static files siloed in the 4 corners of the page. With script, you no longer write on 'paper' but in a dedicated workspace which opens doors to a wide array of 'context-aware' possibilities.

Oh, like a wiki, or Scrivener, or some other tools, but specialized for legal writing?

Re: Show HN: Script – A text editor for digitally interconnected documents

#65

Post by themadturk »

kevintouati wrote: post #52
themadturk wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As of 2006 (when I left the legal tech world), the transition to Word was already well underway. Law firms hated it, but like everywhere else it was becoming The Way. And before Word, there were no "obscure" versions of WordPerfect; it was very widely used, in and out of the legal industry. Everyone loved WordPerfect because of its ability to tune the final output. Formatting requirements for some court filings are v…

Thanks! Would you consider a new job? ;)

Haha, no. My law firm IT days are long over. Thinking back on it, though, with the strong antipathy many middle-aged and older attorneys had against typing, though, how they got papers written in college and law school. All those guys (and they were mostly guys) knew how to do was talk into a dictation machine; the word processing work was mostly for the womenfolk.

Re: Show HN: Script – A text editor for digitally interconnected documents

#66

Post by kevintouati »

jrm4 wrote: post #61
kevintouati wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for this. Not sure I understand what the concern is. It's proprietary in the sense that it is unlike what you would have seen elsewhere. But it uses plain natural language (ie. no particular syntax or markdown - unlike Obsidian). It is also not opinionated and fully exportable to other tools.

That's not what "proprietary" actually means? It means the opposite of "free/open" in the sense of software. The implication (true or not) is that however you're doing the behind the scenes magic, you intend to keep that part a secret and/or behind intellectual property rights, such that I am not allowed to hack at it if I wish. It is a possible way to "value-add" -- aka be the thing that people can't have unless the…

Thanks for the lecture on semantics.

If you chose to stay away from value-adding tools solely because services are charged, you are free to do just that.

Re: Show HN: Script – A text editor for digitally interconnected documents

#67

Post by kevintouati »

themadturk wrote: post #65
kevintouati wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! Would you consider a new job? ;)

Haha, no. My law firm IT days are long over. Thinking back on it, though, with the strong antipathy many middle-aged and older attorneys had against typing, though, how they got papers written in college and law school. All those guys (and they were mostly guys) knew how to do was talk into a dictation machine; the word processing work was mostly for the womenfolk.

Sadly, true. Although things work differently these days I'd hope.

Re: Show HN: Script – A text editor for digitally interconnected documents

#68

Post by kevintouati »

cratermoon wrote: post #64
kevintouati wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Digitally interconnected .. means a way to connect multiple sections and documents across an entire project environment. Currently with MS Word, the idea is to produce static files siloed in the 4 corners of the page. With script, you no longer write on 'paper' but in a dedicated workspace which opens doors to a wide array of 'context-aware' possibilities.

Oh, like a wiki, or Scrivener, or some other tools, but specialized for legal writing?

Yes, exactly.

Re: Show HN: Script – A text editor for digitally interconnected documents

#69

Post by esafak »

graypegg wrote: post #32
esafak wrote: post #10

Your positioning could be tightened. Revise your tagline to state your product differentiation. Why shouldn't I use an established product like Notion, Coda, or Obsidian? Don't make users think. If they have to, they'll go with the status quo, not you. I also picked up the lawyer vibe and I think you should lean right into it. You could say Script: the text editor for lawyers , then explain how your UX support lawyer…

There’s also so much more value to add if you have fewer user personas to worry about. I’m not a lawyer, but while making some assumptions I bet they would love some auto-formatted references. Maybe as part of some LexisNexis integration? Just log in with oauth and work like you normally do, the bibliography will stay up to date depending on what’s added and removed. Could even highlight content that appears to be un…

Kevin, here is great marketer, covering this subject:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/heyrobk_positioning-product-m...

Re: Show HN: Script – A text editor for digitally interconnected documents

#70

Post by [deleted] »

kevintouati wrote: post #44
nativeit wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I learned pretty quickly when I struck out as an entrepreneur that a narrow audience is exponentially easier to succeed with than trying to generalize. It does seem this is rather tailor made for lawyerly document writing, and that is a perfectly suitable niche to target with particular circumstances that could be quite favorable for developing a sales pitch—their time is worth quite a lot of money, and their need to…

Agreed! Whilst we aim to be a generalist business tool for formal business language, the main focus initially is legal & transactional documents for now. We will work on making the message clearer. Thank you!

[deleted]
Post reply on HN