Ease of Use

From: Richard Erlacher <edick_at_idcomm.com>
Date: Tue May 7 11:19:30 2002

Where's the sin in making the computer more accessible to the masses by
"dumbing it down?" I don't see that it makes it less powerful for the user to
whom that makes a difference, while it makes it cheaper for everybody, thanks
to the economy of the vast scale on which they're produced, in their
dumbed-down state. Just because a car can go 100 mph doesn't mean it can't
serve very well at 35.

If you think you need a less-dumb OS, this thread's clearly demonstrated that
there's a wider range than the man on the street would probably believe. I'd
say we should let 'em do what they will, not that we can do anything about it,
and capitalize on the benefits their buying habits produce for us. Clearly,
nobody has to use an OS they don't like. Once people need more muscle,
somebody will provide it and get rich shipping it.

Dick

----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas H. Quebbeman" <dquebbeman_at_acm.org>
To: "ClassicCmp List" <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 5:48 AM
Subject: Ease of Use (Was: Re: APPLEVISION Monitor)


> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Glen Goodwin" <acme_ent_at_bellsouth.net>
> > To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
> > Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 11:07 PM
> > Subject: Re: APPLEVISION Monitor
> >
> > > > From: Sean 'Captain Napalm' Conner <spc_at_conman.org>
> > >
> > > > So why do people expect to get immedate work out of a computer without
> > > > training?
> > >
> > > Because Bill Gates said they could.
> > >
> > > Glen
> > > 0/0
> >
> > Is it because of Bill, or because it's simply so?
> >
> > Dick
>
> Twenty-eight years ago, I walked up to a Teletype ASR33
> hooked to a Control Data 6500 and started writing BASIC
> programs, and the closest thing to training I had was
> to find a drawer containing some end-user documentation.
>
> Five years later, on my first day of my first professional
> full-time position as a programmer on a system I'd never
> used before (a Prime), I was handed a magtape from another
> system I'd used only once or twice (an HP 2000/Access system),
> and before the day was over, had pulled the programs from
> the tape and had several of them running.
>
> But I'm a geek. At what cost have we dumbed-down the computer
> so that nearly anyone can use it? And are you aware that in
> the minds of marketing people, the market is *far* from
> saturated, as there are still lots of people who never use
> them and don't have them. So you can expect another order of
> magnitude of dumbing-down...
>
> -dq
>
>
Received on Tue May 07 2002 - 11:19:30 BST