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Why Apple and Google are struggling to design simple software

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Why Apple and Google are struggling to design simple software

#51

Post by mfukar »

lpsz wrote: post #35
mrweasel wrote: post #29

I don't know about Google, I don't really use any of their products, other than search. As for Apple, it seems like their trying to make things simpler, but forget that people do development work on Macs. It's never huge things that bugs be, just minor tweaks Apple make, and sometimes half-baked features. El Capitan has seriously made me consider if my next computer should be something other than a Mac. While I do li…

Curious what specifically. For me the underlying graphics changes and other tweaks in El Cap made my 5 year old MacBook Air snappy again, I use Xcode the entire day and things seem better than before. There is some initial flux around new release time (broken Homebrew or something else for a week) but they tend to settle down quickly.

For me what OS X provides is just great. Sane defaults, good UI, they're fine. It's what it doesn't provide that gets me, and Homebrew is a good effort and all, but too much hassle.

Re: Why Apple and Google are struggling to design simple software

#52

Post by mfukar »

rcheu wrote: post #13
bcook wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you share a few examples? Google seems to be leaning more toward "normal users" but I enjoy the software nonetheless. Are you sure you are the intended user? Catering to a different userbase might be their intent.

I think an obvious example is Hangouts. It's easily the worst messaging app I've used in years. It consistently fails at reliably delivering messages. It's very common for me to send a message on my laptop, and then have the response only show up on my phone, or vise versa. The read marker will often jump around, and people that just messaged me 3 minutes ago will have "last seen 5 hours ago" under their name. Google…

I don't mind the presence inconsistencies, & the read marker only rarely "desyncs" for me, but the notifications are absolutely horrible. I chat on one device and replies trigger notifications on 3...drives me nuts sometimes.

Re: Why Apple and Google are struggling to design simple software

#53

Post by bcook »

userbinator wrote: post #44
bcook wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you share a few examples? Google seems to be leaning more toward "normal users" but I enjoy the software nonetheless. Are you sure you are the intended user? Catering to a different userbase might be their intent.

Google seems to be leaning more toward "normal users" The unfortunate thing is that these "normal users" today don't seem to have gotten much better at using computers compared to the generations before, despite having literally grown up with them. Dumbed-down software certainly isn't helping them become more advanced users.

Shouldn't software (or anything else) be made optimal for the majority of people that will use it? With common apps like web-browsers, email, & chat, pushing everyone to become an advanced user is nonsense.

Re: Why Apple and Google are struggling to design simple software

#54

Post by [deleted] »

narrator wrote: post #8
exabrial wrote: post #5

Simple: The goal used to be create simple things that just work. Now its create thigs that push your platform. As an example, to pick on MSFT: I thought hell froze over when I saw Word in the Android app store. Its a hugely wonderful word processor. I typed out a blog post and when to save, but... well I wasnt signed into sky drive. I managed to finagle my way around those prompts after 5 or so mins. Next time I open…

Winter is coming for Microsoft. The rise of mobile and the slow down of PC speed improvements means they are having a hard time delivering real value that people want to pay for and need to find a way to generate recurring revenue through subscription services. Witness the rise of Windows 10. How can they make money if you permanently own your software? What if Moore's law stops and we're sitting here 10 years later…

[deleted]

Re: Why Apple and Google are struggling to design simple software

#56

Post by dcdevito »

exabrial wrote: post #5

Simple: The goal used to be create simple things that just work. Now its create thigs that push your platform. As an example, to pick on MSFT: I thought hell froze over when I saw Word in the Android app store. Its a hugely wonderful word processor. I typed out a blog post and when to save, but... well I wasnt signed into sky drive. I managed to finagle my way around those prompts after 5 or so mins. Next time I open…

So you're bashing Microsoft for offering a cross platform solution on a Google account reliant device such as Android?

Then why did you install Word? If you didn't want to "jump through hoops" then why not just use Google Docs - which won't ask you anything since you're already using your Google account?

Re: Why Apple and Google are struggling to design simple software

#58

Post by sangnoir »

dcdevito wrote: post #56
exabrial wrote: post #5

Simple: The goal used to be create simple things that just work. Now its create thigs that push your platform. As an example, to pick on MSFT: I thought hell froze over when I saw Word in the Android app store. Its a hugely wonderful word processor. I typed out a blog post and when to save, but... well I wasnt signed into sky drive. I managed to finagle my way around those prompts after 5 or so mins. Next time I open…

So you're bashing Microsoft for offering a cross platform solution on a Google account reliant device such as Android? Then why did you install Word? If you didn't want to "jump through hoops" then why not just use Google Docs - which won't ask you anything since you're already using your Google account?

You seem to be asking questions that were answered.

>Then why did you install Word?

"Its a hugely wonderful word processor"

> If you didn't want to "jump through hoops" then why not just use Google Docs

Seems like they did exactly that. "Needless to say, that crap is uninstalled. I already chose a cloud provider, I dont need yet another on"

Until I read parent's comment, I had no idea I needed a Microsoft account to save . I have Word installed, but only ever use it as a viewer.

Re: Why Apple and Google are struggling to design simple software

#60

Post by TeMPOraL »

bcook wrote: post #53
userbinator wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google seems to be leaning more toward "normal users" The unfortunate thing is that these "normal users" today don't seem to have gotten much better at using computers compared to the generations before, despite having literally grown up with them. Dumbed-down software certainly isn't helping them become more advanced users.

Shouldn't software (or anything else) be made optimal for the majority of people that will use it? With common apps like web-browsers, email, & chat, pushing everyone to become an advanced user is nonsense.

Somehow stoves, microwaves and machines live with complex interfaces and nobody complains. Cars are also a good example - it is expected of everyone to take a few dozen hours of driving lessons to familiarize themselves with the UI of the machine, and again, nobody complains. Creating the expectation that every program should be fully usable from the get-go is the problem, because the only way to achieve that is to remove its features to the point it barely does anything.

Hell, nobody complains that Photoshop is complicated. It is expected of you to read some tutorials in order to use it effectively.

I'm not saying the interface should be obtuse for a reason. But the current trend of sacrificing features to simplify the UI is simply dumb. Market-driven, yes, but just dumb. We could do much more with technology we have if not for it.

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