hindsight/user experience

[Leif]

Karl Hegbloom
So he's some sort of MCSIE? [1 Wrote: 
>   The whole pseudo-philosophy of assuming
> that the user doesn't need to know anything about how the computer
> actually works is so totally bogus.  It's ultimately responsible for
> your friend's troubles.  Computers are so ubiquitous these days that
> this sort of thing should be becoming common knowledge!  Anyone with a
> PC ought to possess a certain amount of foundation knowledge.

I must respectfully disagree. My mother does NOT need to know ANYTHING
about how a computer works beyond how to switch it on, start a browser,
write emails, and use messenger/skype. For her, if a computer could
actually have hard buttons that when pressed started the 5 applications
she will ever use, would be an improvement. No need for anything else on
there. Next time I visit I'm planning to install a stripped down Ubuntu
where she can't do anything wrong - just a desktop with 5 buttons, not
even the applications bar or anything. If there was a linux install
(motherix) that did this by default, you bet I'd install it.

For some people a computer is just a tool - not something interesting,
not a toy, just a tool. Like an iron, or a television. They don't need
to know how a computer works any more than they need to know how their
television works. And there's nothing wrong with that.


-- 
Leif