Thanks for the kind words, Ralf!
On rereading, I see that Nosh had implicitly given a similar definition of "perfection" to mine: "It does what I need". Though with today's relative cheapness of computing power and storage, we can certainly go beyond needs and cater to many (strictly unnecessary) wants as well. Besides, perfection in a tool cannot be constrained by real-world scarcity, only by the purposes of its users.
For many years, I ranked Blackbeard (a shareware DOS text editor with block copy capability, multiple concurrent edit windows, user-definable key bindings and an excellent macro facility) as a perfect app. Then my needs AND wants changed: I needed less eyestrain (from DOS colour combinations) and wanted to routinely use various emphases, such as bold, italic and underline, for a more natural reflection of a speaking voice. The nature of my wants ruled out ANY text editor; thus began my long search for a perfect word processor ... These days, I'm more interested in "idea processor" tools than presentation aids. So as long as we live, the search for perfection will continue; not because it is unattainable, but because it is a moving target.
