On 7/11/04 Tony Riley wrote: >The issue of whether something should be perfect or not seems to keep >raising its head and the oft quoted view is that 'nothing but the >best' will do. I find this rather strange and out of touch with >reality in a commercial world.
<snip> >I have for some time now been toying around with a file extension of >my own invention - .jge - which has nothing to do with the file format >but is strictly an indication that the said file is considered 'just >good enough' for the purpose for which it is intended. ROFL! Actually, I might have unwittingly contributed misinformation to the 'perfect/good enough' thing. I wrote to John that 'it's only good enough if it IS perfect', but that isn't realistic. We'd all like 'perfect', but how often do we get it? Great works of art, for instance, are never finished, just abandoned when the artist realizes that he can keep adding to it for ever and, ultimately, screw it up. Great artists know when to stop, thus avoiding that 'maybe I can get it just a bit more perfect' syndrome. I think the term 'good enough' first had popularity in childcare, as in 'good enough mother'. If you are a 'good enough mother', then that's 'perfect', as you don't need more. The old childcare adage goes: 'If at first you don't succeed, you don't succeed'. The 'good enough mother' DOES succeed, and that's what I was meaning when I wrote to John earlier. After all, what's better than 'good enough' for the purpose? Either it is 'good enough' or it isn't. What's the point of 'better than good enough'? -- Best wishes Paul Bradforth http://www.paulbradforth.com =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
