Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 14:35:57 -0800 From: David Johnson <djohnson@acuson.com> To: Nils Holland <nils@tisys.org> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: NatWest? no thanks Message-ID: <3BE31FCD.C94F5CBD@acuson.com> References: <20011102203830.U2905-100000@jodie.ncptiddische.net>
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Nils Holland wrote: > I guess that a lot of the success the computer have had during the past > years was also caused by them being general purpose items. In fact, I > guess each office is now powered by computers because they have replaced > typewriter, filing cabinets, the need to do manual calculations and > charts, and to some extend even postal mail service. A general purpose appliance has a features/benefits list that no specific purpose appliance can even approach. That makes them very attractive. But it doesn't make them easier to use. My "premise" wasn't that general purpose computing devices are wrong. Only that they are harder to use. If you want to make computers easier you have to either educate the user or make them specialized. > In contrast, if we had one device for word processing, one device for > creating spreadsheets, one device for databases, and so on, I guess not > just would our offices be clogged up, but in the worst case all of these > devices would look-and-feel entirely different, thus making them even > harder to use. General purpose devices are cheaper than a multitude of special purpose devices, so it only makes sense to buy them when you have more than one function to perform at a station. But that still doesn't make them easier to use. > Looking at your example, I guess a combined car-boat-airplane would > probably be rather easy to handle. Switch to car mode, use the steering > wheel and the pedals and drive along. Put it into water, use the same > steering wheel and pedals and you have a boat. It would work similarely > when switching to airplane mode. I would have to disagree. In order to learn how to operate such a vehicle to its fullest, you will have to learn how to drive, how to sail and how to fly. That's at least three times the learning at the minimum. Of course you could always get that vehicle and *only* drive it. That's what many people do with their computers. They learn how to use Word, then use Word for ALL of their tasks even if it isn't appropriate. I've seen presentations made in Word, emails sent in Word, and even spreadsheets sent in word. David To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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