[ale] gnome3. I give up.

[Lightner, Jeff]

Having worked once upon a time at software support help desk for over
2000 sites I can tell you that many many many users DO need to be told
when the device is unplugged because it never seems to occur to them to
check that themselves.

 

Once upon a time I was bitching at Comcast support for asking me to
check the cable connection at the wall.  I noted that once I attached it
a few years earlier I'd had no need to detach it and thought they should
check the "obvious" trouble on their end.   However, just to shut them
up I did check it at the wall and to my chagrin when I touched the cable
it fell off.   Apparently, over the years, vibration in the apartment
complex on that outside wall had actually caused it to unscrew itself.
Sometimes even if you are a highly skilled technical person it IS
required to check the basics before calling support.  (Way to go Comcast
- 1 out of 312 times isn't bad!)

 

________________________________

From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of Jim
Kinney
Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2011 1:43 PM
To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
Subject: Re: [ale] gnome3. I give up.

 

You're just sounding old and grumpy :-)

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.

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?

On Wed, Jun 8, 2011 at 1:21 PM, The Don Lachlan
<ale-at-ale.org at unpopularminds.org> wrote:

On 06/08/2011 08:20 AM, Mike Harrison wrote:
> I think we have reacheed an age where being stuck with ONE interface
and
> paradigm for everything is gone. That's the good news and the bad
news.
> Every uber-geek I meet has hacked their system into a completely
> customized world that -they- like and is almost unusable to anyone
else.
> The interfaces for the rest of the world are evolving, some for the
> better, some for the worse. We will have to sort out the good and the
bad
> and help it evolve more.
> Out of chaos: order

I hate fax machines. I use one _maybe_ once a year. Each time, I have to
spend five (or ten) minutes figuring out which side the page faces, how
I feed multiple pages, do I dial first or after it scans, etc.

Microwaves are similar, though it usually only takes a second to figure
it out. Now its TVs and DVRs and phones and everything else. Mostly, I
don't care what the UI is, I just want it to be consistent. No matter
what microwave I use, I want to push the same buttons, in the same
order, everywhere.

That ONLY applies to appliances. (Applies. Appliance. Heh. Apple?)

My computers are platforms for expression. My computers run a UI that is
consistent for me and only me and I use the same config files no matter
where I go. But that's me and I'm an extreme data point - most users
treat computers as appliances and they need the same consistency I need
with a fax machine.

I view the chaos as bullshit created by groups/individuals who want to
distinguish their product from the other one just by making it
different, not better. Appliances shouldn't be unique, one microwave
should work just like another. Computers (or other platforms for
expression) should work the way the user wants, ignoring whatever any
other user wants.

-L

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-- 
-- 
James P. Kinney III

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.
- 2011 Noam Chomsky
 
Proud partner. Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
 
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