iconitis

Charles Bryant ch at maths.tcd.ie
Wed Apr 12 04:00:23 AEST 1989


In article <2587 at ssc-vax.UUCP> dmg at ssc-vax.UUCP (David Geary) writes:
>
>keep up with the cursor.  I was astounded.  Now I use VI exclusively. 
>People see me using
>VI nowadays, and say "WOW!  What kind of editor is that - it's so fast." 
>"Vi", I reply.
>"Oh, yuck", is usually their reply.  I just kind of smile.
>
>  BTW, when I was learning VI, I cursed it time and time again, ...

This illustrates the _real_ difference between MAC and UNIX style programs. MAC
programs are far easier to learn, but UNIX programs are more powerful. For many
users it is not worth while spending a lot of time learning about a powerful
program. For full-time programmers it is always worth while. This tends to make
them see power as very important, whereas ease-of-learning is what sells
machines.

Another obstacle to developing a good user-interface is that a good
user-interface is one that no-one notices while they are using it. If your
testers say they were really impressed with your user-interface there is a good
chance that its sub-optimal.
-- 

		Charles Bryant.
Working at Datacode Electronics Ltd. (Modem manufacturers)



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