21–30 of 39 posts
One problem that I don't think the iPad's defenders are acknowledging is Joel Splosky's "Law of Leaky Abstractions" -- http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.htm... . Of course, the ideal is to leak minimally; Apple has always been good at that, but very bad at allowing anyone past the abstraction in the event that it breaks down. I believe the analogy is "sports cars with their hoods welded shut."
I don't think many people who have grown up using computers struggle with basic file system concepts, installing programs or using office applications. Maybe we have reached the stage where a basic understanding of computing, along with basic numeracy and literacy, is necessary to function in modern society?
Keyboard and mouse computers are not designed around our natural abilities, they are an acquired skill. If a system can accomplish the same tasks (email, word processing, calculations,...) without requiring a training and indoctrination program, then that is better and should be the end goal. The iPad (and future tablets and augmented reality devices) is going to do just that, and that is a very good thing indeed.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Around 92 I was forced into a required class for basic computers. I didn't pay much attention, but got A's as it was covering topics I already knew well. What I did learn from that class was from the students as I noticed many were just downright afrid of the machines and would only do what the teacher said. There was no sense of play and the fear of "Blowing something up" was always there and I wondered how anybody…
You are right, the basic operations for people should be more robust. Perhaps something that automatically backs up Office Documents every night to limit work that is lost? Continuing to ship recovery discs with machines? There are many approaches to this problem but each with its own peril. The solution could be lucrative. However, I understand the fear of the machine though. Most people are fearful when they first…
Computers, assuming you're simply using the machine and not trying to stick objects into the power supply, don't. It's ridiculous the fear some people have of simply using a computer.
I remember a line from some short-lived sitcom Tony Danza once starred in. Speaking to his new computer, he says, "You look like a TV, but you're not a TV. You're an evil TV." There's an anxiety and apprehension with computers that, IMO, exceeds the bounds of rationality.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are right, the basic operations for people should be more robust. Perhaps something that automatically backs up Office Documents every night to limit work that is lost? Continuing to ship recovery discs with machines? There are many approaches to this problem but each with its own peril. The solution could be lucrative. However, I understand the fear of the machine though. Most people are fearful when they first…
But cars, power tools, and firearms have significant potential for severe bodily harm. Computers, assuming you're simply using the machine and not trying to stick objects into the power supply, don't. It's ridiculous the fear some people have of simply using a computer. I remember a line from some short-lived sitcom Tony Danza once starred in. Speaking to his new computer, he says, "You look like a TV, but you're not…
I could be entirely wrong though. I think it is very difficult for those of us that understand technology to understand how those people must feel about things. It is for me at least.
Somehow I don't think that learning how to operate a unique proprietary user interface(iPad) will help people to operate a real desktop computer. While it may temporary help to boost users self confidence in using a computer it will only serve as a fallback after the inevetable frustrations with a full UI. What is realy apsent from the mind of older generations is the idea that computers are just tools, albeit imensl…
Computers can be very powerful tools, but I am not sure many people are really interested in using that power -- I think many, even those who grew up with computers, would like the details to go away.
To follow your car analogy, cars used to be much more complicated to operate than they are now. Modern cars have electric starters, automatic chokes, and in many cases automatic transmissions, for instance.
Apple is simplifying things with iPad, Google is heading in the same route with Chrome OS, and I'm sure there are many other players we haven't heard from yet. It's going to be very interesting how things eventually play out.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are right, the basic operations for people should be more robust. Perhaps something that automatically backs up Office Documents every night to limit work that is lost? Continuing to ship recovery discs with machines? There are many approaches to this problem but each with its own peril. The solution could be lucrative. However, I understand the fear of the machine though. Most people are fearful when they first…
But cars, power tools, and firearms have significant potential for severe bodily harm. Computers, assuming you're simply using the machine and not trying to stick objects into the power supply, don't. It's ridiculous the fear some people have of simply using a computer. I remember a line from some short-lived sitcom Tony Danza once starred in. Speaking to his new computer, he says, "You look like a TV, but you're not…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
But cars, power tools, and firearms have significant potential for severe bodily harm. Computers, assuming you're simply using the machine and not trying to stick objects into the power supply, don't. It's ridiculous the fear some people have of simply using a computer. I remember a line from some short-lived sitcom Tony Danza once starred in. Speaking to his new computer, he says, "You look like a TV, but you're not…
No, you cannot physically harm yourself by using a computer.I think the fear is that they have no idea how it works and how they might break it. A person hates to feel stupid and they hate feeling helpless. I think for this reason they avoid it. Most people now feel comfortable driving cars but are terrified of opening the hood. I think most people are like that with computing, but they don't understand what "mainten…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Around 92 I was forced into a required class for basic computers. I didn't pay much attention, but got A's as it was covering topics I already knew well. What I did learn from that class was from the students as I noticed many were just downright afrid of the machines and would only do what the teacher said. There was no sense of play and the fear of "Blowing something up" was always there and I wondered how anybody…
There will always be people like that. My grandmother used to live with us as I was growing up, and she was always afraid of technology. She was afraid to touch the electronic thermostat... even though it only had two buttons and just displayed the set temp and the current temp. She was deathly afraid that she would 'break' it. {edit} On the other hand, you also have people that constantly break things as a result of…
One absurdly frequent source of customer issues with Bingo Card Creator was "I have no effective mental model of the file system, data as separate from programs, and how the physical location of a file relates to my physical location in the world."
I have a huge number of customers who think that letters live in Word and bingo cards live in Bingo Card Creator. If you think like that, you might be unpleasantly surprised when you take your CD and install your Bingo Card Creator at school, and then Bingo Card Creator doesn't have your bingo cards in it any more. Actual quotes: "Did it lose them?", "I think my CD must have a virus." (People have been socialized to think that anything that goes wrong is, depending on the person, operator error or a virus/malware/etc.)
When I released the online version of Bingo Card Creator, which essentially dispenses with the file/folder metaphor, this issue vanished. poof Their bingo cards really do live in Bingo Card Creator, for all intents and purposes. (Putting "cloud" support in the downloadable version, on the other hand, was a crashing failure -- probably a failure of communication on my part.)
I think file systems are the new registry: something which should be hidden behind several signs saying "There be dragons here!" and which power users can be allowed to tweak, so that they can brag to their wives "Yep, it took me a while, but I opened up a folder on my C drive and found your file, then I copied it to your desktop. I'm good with computers, what can I say."