You're just sounding old and grumpy :-)<br><br>I'd be happier with my appliances if the designers were forced to use things with MY eyes or worse. Black on black may be "cool" but it's impossible to read which button does what.<br>
<br>And while I'm bitching about stupid appliance design, why does my TV have a bright blue led to notify me when it's off? Except when I press the power button, it goes off then comes back on to tell me it's on? It basically stays on as long as the power cord supplies electrons. Do I need to be told the TV is now plugged in?<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jun 8, 2011 at 1:21 PM, The Don Lachlan <span dir="ltr"><<a href="http://ale-at-ale.org">ale-at-ale.org</a>@<a href="http://unpopularminds.org">unpopularminds.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;"><div class="im">On 06/08/2011 08:20 AM, Mike Harrison wrote:<br>
> I think we have reacheed an age where being stuck with ONE interface and<br>
> paradigm for everything is gone. That's the good news and the bad news.<br>
> Every uber-geek I meet has hacked their system into a completely<br>
> customized world that -they- like and is almost unusable to anyone else.<br>
> The interfaces for the rest of the world are evolving, some for the<br>
> better, some for the worse. We will have to sort out the good and the bad<br>
> and help it evolve more.<br>
> Out of chaos: order<br>
<br>
</div>I hate fax machines. I use one _maybe_ once a year. Each time, I have to<br>
spend five (or ten) minutes figuring out which side the page faces, how<br>
I feed multiple pages, do I dial first or after it scans, etc.<br>
<br>
Microwaves are similar, though it usually only takes a second to figure<br>
it out. Now its TVs and DVRs and phones and everything else. Mostly, I<br>
don't care what the UI is, I just want it to be consistent. No matter<br>
what microwave I use, I want to push the same buttons, in the same<br>
order, everywhere.<br>
<br>
That ONLY applies to appliances. (Applies. Appliance. Heh. Apple?)<br>
<br>
My computers are platforms for expression. My computers run a UI that is<br>
consistent for me and only me and I use the same config files no matter<br>
where I go. But that's me and I'm an extreme data point - most users<br>
treat computers as appliances and they need the same consistency I need<br>
with a fax machine.<br>
<br>
I view the chaos as bullshit created by groups/individuals who want to<br>
distinguish their product from the other one just by making it<br>
different, not better. Appliances shouldn't be unique, one microwave<br>
should work just like another. Computers (or other platforms for<br>
expression) should work the way the user wants, ignoring whatever any<br>
other user wants.<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
-L<br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="h5">_______________________________________________<br>
Ale mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Ale@ale.org">Ale@ale.org</a><br>
<a href="http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale" target="_blank">http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale</a><br>
See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at<br>
<a href="http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo" target="_blank">http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>-- <br>James P. Kinney III<br><br>As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to
consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as
they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the
outcome.<br>- <i><i><i><i>2011 Noam Chomsky</i></i></i></i><br>