Date: Sat, 16 Mar 2002 14:27:14 -0800 From: Terry Lambert <tlambert2@mindspring.com> To: Chip Morton <tech_info@threespace.com> Cc: FreeBSD Chat <chat@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Free BSD Message-ID: <3C93C6C2.6B3CC26D@mindspring.com> References: <4.3.2.7.2.20020315181331.01b26160@threespace.com> <20020314204235.L152-100000@pogo.caustic.org> <15505.28725.937368.158235@guru.mired.org> <20020314204235.L152-100000@pogo.caustic.org> <4.3.2.7.2.20020315181331.01b26160@threespace.com> <4.3.2.7.2.20020315190230.01b2a4f8@threespace.com> <4.3.2.7.2.20020316100234.01b21638@threespace.com> <4.3.2.7.2.20020316152302.01b33d00@threespace.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Chip Morton wrote: > > > Because frankly, I think that he deserved to get his ass > > > beat for changing somebody's color scheme to red on red and forcing them to > > > have to reinstall it. If that's his best argument for why we don't need > > > color in the GUI, then I rest my case. > > > >No, that was also a reductio ad absurdum argument. > > No, that was his statement of something that he actually did to someone's > computer to bolster his argument. And if his argument rests on the most > absurd case he can find, it's probably without much merit. Spamming the computer was his means of presenting his argument. The "spamee" in this story was someone who has bragged about his system being well designed, when it turned out that it was only well designed from the perspective of the user engaging in self-control that could only come from a familiarity with the system. The mistake that was made by the spameed is that there was an assumed familiarity. > >Even if you agree with none of his other premises, you have > >to agree that an interface that permits converting the > >product from its intended use to a doorstop is a poorly > >designed interface. > > That's like saying that a knife is a poorly designed utensil because you > can cut yourself with it. Every interface known to man has the ability to > be used for something unanticipated and potentially stupid. But throwing > the baby out with the bathwater ain't the answer. I could argue that cuttable humans are the poor design... but I won't. If it's possible to design a knife where you can't cut yourself with it, yet it maintains its intended function in the role of a knife, then yes, I would say that knives not designed that way are poorly designed. I would also disagree with your "every interface" claim; my favorite interface is the interface on a road side assitance kiosk, used in some countries in Europe. It has a single button. You press it. It's an incredibly compelling design, and, to me, a comment on the way machines should be designed: a single "fulfill your function" button has incredible elegance. > >It's not about monochrome. Just because he designed the > >most critically acclaimed user interface of all time on > >a machine incapable of displaying color, doesn't mean > >that he would have limited himself to monochrome, had the > >choice been available. > > Again, I point out that no one is currently shipping "the most critically > acclaimed user interface of all time" any more, so what does that say about > it's modern-day value? That the design was an adequate basis for future work, in that it kept the company afloat? > >In any case, developing a new window manager would not serve > >to solve the problem he's pointing at, any more than denying > >the existance of the problem solves it. > > I'm not denying that improvements can be made. I'm denying that Jef > Raskin's assertion that we're all ass-backwards for using our current > interfaces and that his proposals are all dead-on correct. Admittedly he > raises some good points, but they're largely his opinion, and I respect his > opinion for what it is. Me too. His bonifides go on for miles, compared to yours or mine. -- Terry To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?3C93C6C2.6B3CC26D>