Iconitis

[Mitch Mlinar]

In article <28558 at apple.Apple.COM> austing at Apple.COM (Glenn L. Austin) writes:
>> There are plenty of us out here who have good typing skills and the
>> smarts to understand English and even Unix, and by catering to the least
>> common denominator, you only cut yourselves out of a large chunk of market
>> share.
>
>Plenty of us?  I know more people who *DON'T* know Unix than those that do.
>Also, I know more than a few people who are totally intimidated by an English
>interface (on the PC, does "FORMAT" get my document ready for printing?).
>Oh, by the way, the last parenthesizes statement is common among secretaries
>who know that they have to do something to print their document, but know
>very little about the PC they are using!

Yes, Glenn you are right - UP to a point.  I have kinda grown up with the
computer business over the last 18 years (starting at age 13).  The
proliferation of computers from behind-closed-door-behemoth to every-day-
run-of-the-mill desktop computers during this time has had a BIG impact on
the American culture.

15 years ago, few people could tell you anything about a computer.  Ask them
what a PC meant and what is a floppy disk, and you get blank stares.  Many
were awestruck by the computer literate.

10 years ago, more people knew what a PC was and 1/2 could recognize a floppy
disk.  The "error rate" climbed dramatically as the NON-computer users
started to get exposed to it and saw its power, but made mistakes.

5 years ago, nearly EVERYONE knows what a computer is and most know how to
work them in some form.  At this time, the NON-computer users were virtually
forced to learn PC/MAC/whatever: office automation really hit.  MACs worked
best on the computer novice crowd at that time, PCs on more experienced ones.
(The distinctions between these have blurred somewhat over the years.)

Today, you HAVE to have basic computer skills to get a job in any profession.
Even most of the non-technical jobs entail computer use.  Period.  This
"error rate" decreases as people are making their systems more application
specific (just like the ICs), but also start out with a higher baseline of
knowledge.  Nearly all college and high school grads know how to work a
computer.  My six yr old and three yr old have no problem running a CP/M
machine.  Nor running a PC or MAC.

The fact is that menus/mice selection of same are great for learning a
system.  Once a system is known, a fast typist is clearly at a disadvantage.
The MAC was originally sold for those who needed the power but were computer
illiterate.  For document processing/integrated graphics, it is STILL hard to
beat.  But outside of that, a PC does just fine (and certainly better in the
cost/performance category).

In the future, one need not dwell on such interfaces - and as someone said -
any computer should provide BOTH.  Take a look around at anyone under the age
of 21; you will find FEW who are intimidated by a PC versus a MAC.  Given
that most were trained on Apple ][s and are now being trained on PCs in grade
school/high school, this is not surprising.  What is surprising are these
continuous arguments over the years to "protect the masses from all this
power they just cannot understand".  Guano!  Give them a shelter, but DON'T
lock them in.  The average user is no longer that stupid.

-Mitch

P.S.  For proof of this maturation, just take a look at Steven Jobs.  The MAC
was his baby.  I remember articles telling about how he thought CTRL keys
were a bad idea (what do they mean?) and even a two-button mouse is too
complicated, etc.  The Next machine is his current prodigy for comparison and
being "retargeted" to business/industry after overemphasis on academics
(machine is overpriced for most schools).  Both menus/icons and CLI
interface are present.  And, its OS is UN*X like.