GUIs 'forced' on people (was Re: Here's something to consider.)

From: Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com>
Date: Wed Sep 16 17:40:06 1998

Sam Ismail <dastar_at_ncal.verio.com> wrote:
> Or it could mean that good marketing led them in that direction. Just
> because people take to one technology over another does not mean its
> necessarily better. Take VHS vs. Beta for instance. Some technologies
> are better for some things. GUI was not a cure all, but a major

I *NEVER* said that GUI was better. I said that GUIs became popular because
people liked them, not because (as someone else claimed) Apple forced it
down their throats.

Beta was technically better than VHS. But VHS won because the consumers
preferred it. Not the engineers, not the marketers, not the sales people.
The CONSUMERS.

And the reason that consumers preferred it was not that VHS had better
marketing. If anything, Sony had better marketing. Many people continued
to refer to VCRs in general as "Betamax" even into the mid-80s. It is
widely believed (but of course unproven) that VHS was preferred due to the
longer recording time per tape. JVC rarely even mentioned this feature
in advertising.

Eric
Received on Wed Sep 16 1998 - 17:40:06 BST