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# Old School vs. New School
- URL: https://www.philsimon.com/old-school-vs-new-school/
- Published: 2026-08-03T13:16:14.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-09T20:19:34.000Z
- Description: Thoughts on unconventional methods and the ever-changing mix of tools people use to get things done.
- Author: Phil Simon
- Tags: AI, Claude, Notion, Slack

For my entire career, workplace tech and collaboration have fascinated me. I suspect that my interest in these topics will never wane. Invariably at the gym, I catch a glimpse of people furiously pecking away at their keyboards. What applications are they using? Would any of them benefit my clients or me? 

## A Perplexing Mix 

In a Slack workspace, I recently saw someone post a message in an `AI` channel on his use of Claude. I immediately knew that this individual:

1. Understood the power of generative AI and Claude in particular. (In that way, [we're alike](https://www.philsimon.com/why-im-all-in-on-claude/).)
2. Knew at least the rudiments of Slack—a noisy, often confusing morass of information.

Cool, I thought. This individual and I shared some common tech sensibilities. And four seconds later, I also knew that some pretty stark differences existed as well. From his post:

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8f/b5/8fb5e321-49a6-4cf5-8a28-c6f6d5417e54/content/images/2026/07/SCR-20260726-hcrk_converted.jpeg)

Slack Post/Screenshot | Click on the image to enlarge it.

Wow. 

> You can use any software program in unconventional ways.

Person X copied the Claude session and pasted it into a Microsoft Word document.

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## How I Think About Collaboration

I'm not judging, but I would have shared my Claude chat in one of the following ways:

1. [Making the Claude session public](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/10593882-share-and-unshare-chats?ref=philsimon.com).
2. Blogging about it on my website. Think web, [as I used to say](https://www.philsimon.com/think-web/).
3. Using Google Docs, [Notion](https://www.philsimon.com/tag/notion), or another contemporary collaboration tool.

If none of these options existed, I would have [vibe-coded my own solution](https://www.philsimon.com/vibe-coding-band-aids/). Put differently, I'd never consider relying on [a 43-year-old program](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%5Fof%5FMicrosoft%5FWord?ref=philsimon.com) best suited for [manuscripts](https://www.philsimon.com/services-ghostwriting/), reports, and their ilk.

[The Accidental CommitterClaude Code has awakened my inner open-source beast.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8f/b5/8fb5e321-49a6-4cf5-8a28-c6f6d5417e54/content/images/icon/300br-1-52490cb1-1190-4442-9311-7e0b491df25a.png)Phil SimonPhil Simon![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8f/b5/8fb5e321-49a6-4cf5-8a28-c6f6d5417e54/content/images/thumbnail/an_accidental_coder-0d682030-f8c7-4b1c-a421-614d0f275e66.jpg)](https://www.philsimon.com/the-accidental-committer/)

## Simon Says

*Can* you share Claude sessions via Word, Excel, or another tried-and-true application? Sure. You can use any software program in unconventional ways. A few examples:

- Some people have emailed me 40 MB attachments instead of using iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, or WeTransfer.
- Plenty of self-published authors use Word to "design" their books. The final products look decidedly amateur.
- It's downright silly to store reams of structured data in a PowerPoint file, but I've seen people do it. Hell, these days you might even be able to [analyze it with Claude](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13521390-use-claude-for-powerpoint?ref=philsimon.com).

There's a chasm, though, between *can* and *should*.

## Feedback

Which old stalwarts do you continue to use? Which ones do you use in, er, *creative* ways?