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1989-09-30
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79 lines
SHAREWARE REVIEW
PROGRAM: Poet -- Poetry Creator
AUTHOR: Computer Poet Corporation
REGISTRATION: Free
WHERE FOUND: Executive Computer Network
RESTRICTIONS: None
RATING: 8.0
VALUE: S (P)oor - (A)verage - (S) uper
Arguments pop up everyday in offices concerning computers replacing people.
Now that we have spelling checkers, grammar checkers, and electronic filing,
people who hold the notion that "Computers will never take over the office"
are retreating. Their newest slogan is "Computers cannot create."
Taking the definition of "creative" to mean "Having the ability to create",
then taking the definition of "create" to mean "Bring into existence", we
can plainly see that computers can create.
OK, I know, that is dicing words. What about true, artistic creation. You
got me there. A computer cannot consciously "create", which is what art is.
To quote from a dictionary: "Art is the human interpretation of nature"
Although I do not agree with that so be it. I can live with my PS2 not
being able to interpret.
Poet, though, is freaky. Just give it some parameters and away it goes.
Churning out poem after poem that sound like a human wrote them. Of course
these reviews are computer generated...Of course these reviews are computer
generated... Of course these reviews are computer generated....(Small Joke)
USE: POET is a complete poetry factory. You can specify whether you want
the poem to be funny or serious. You can choose the subject matter of
the poem; everything from I LOVE YOU to YOU OWE ME MONEY is supported.
Using the program is fairly straight forward. There is no
documentation file, and very limited on-line help. The escape key
doesn't allow you to escape. After figuring out how to start the
program (by typing POET) you are presented with a menu containing 4
choices. You select COMPOSE and start. Your first choice allows you to
select a Light or Serious poem. You then enter the person's name, and
the computer will automatically find their gender. Next comes
selecting 3 personality traits from a list of over 50. Everything from
WHAT A NIGHT to GOD BLESS YOU is available. After selecting your
traits you then have your poem "composed" by the computer.
Get ready for a shock. Not only does POET write faster, and better
than you, but you also get a very emotional poem. Fantastic. Throwing
opposite traits at it doesn't confuse it, for it just uses them in a
humorous fashion.
While the poem is being displayed after creation, you can do one of
seven tasks: 1) Print the Poem 2) Edit this Poem 3) Swap the Poem with
one on disk 4) Compose a new Poem Using Same Answers 5) Disk
Operations 6) Verse Operations 7) Quit. Quite an extensive list for a
"non-artistic" piece of software.
By choosing the "Edit" key, you are able to go in and change selected
words and rearrange phrases is need be. You are not limited to
revisions using the POET software, because the poems are stored in
ASCII files so any text editor would do.
The program features SUPERB user control. If you are about to blow
away a poem you just spent eight hours creating, the program MAKES
sure you want to do that. Great feature.
The only features that are missing are the ability to handle more printer
configurations, add your own subjects, and on-line help/documentation.
SUMMARY: GOOD POINTS BAD POINTS
----------- ----------
√ Human Like ≈ No Documentation
√ Ease of Use ≈ No On-line Help
√ Wide Range of Subjects ≈ More Printer Control
√ Great User Control
RATING FOR POET:
1----------5---------10:
███████████████████
8.0
Poet, lacking documentation, is hurt. It pulls itself up by ease of use and
it's humanness. (C) 1989 Patrick Grote