[mythtv-users] Why Free Software has poor usability ?

Jay R. Ashworth jra at baylink.com
Fri Aug 8 15:36:42 UTC 2008


On Fri, Aug 08, 2008 at 11:30:44AM -0400, Jerry Rubinow wrote:
>    On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 10:49 AM, Jay R. Ashworth <[1]jra at baylink.com> wrote:
>    On Thu, Aug 07, 2008 at 06:44:09PM -0400, Jerry Rubinow wrote:
>    >    I've used Office 2K7 with the ribbon interface. (IMHO) MS has
>    >    clearly put a lot of thought into useability with this. It's one
>    >    of the most well-designed and intuitive interfaces I've ever used,
>    >    and I believe a lot of smart people spent a lot of time on it. Try
>    >    playing around with it with an objective eye, not as a comparison
>    >    to the previous version of Office.
> 
>      Alas, "that's all well and good", but it doesn't take into account the
>      probably tens of millions of manhours that have been spent learning and
>      teaching the old interface.
> 
>    There are two versions of Office. Why would you upgrade if you like
>    and want to stick with the old interface? 2003 accounts for all of
>    those people. 2007 accounts for all the people who find the old
>    interface hard to use, and for anyone new to Office who will likely
>    find it much easier to learn.

It's *called* Office for a reason.

You've never been an office temp, have you?

If I upgrade my whole office to 2k7, then I probably have to pay more
for temps, who have to learn 2 versions of Word instead of only 1.

>      And it completely violates the "Windows is a pretty neat idea
>      because you only have to learn how to run apps once" argument in
>      favor of WIMP interfaces in general.
>
>    1. The utility of that paradigm breaks down when you start getting
>    to the point of hundreds of menu items. 2. It's arguable whether
>    it's even true in the first place, but regardless, it doesn't mean
>    that one should never try to improve the UI.

Perhaps.  But one must consider the height of the hill one is climbing
when one does that, and Microsoft never ever ever does.  (Microsoft
apps have violated the User Interface Guidelines -- such as they are --
more regularly than those from all other vendors combined, forever.)

>      Efficiency: fixing the problem right ectiveness: fixing the     .
>      Effright problem                                                .
>
>    The purpose of O2K7 was to fix its usability problems, from what
>    I understand, and I think they made good strides in doing that.

Perhaps.

But you go talk to the head of Personnel One and see what *they* think
of it.  The Law of Unintended Consequences marches along.

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth                   Baylink                      jra at baylink.com
Designer                     The Things I Think                       RFC 2100
Ashworth & Associates     http://baylink.pitas.com                     '87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA      http://photo.imageinc.us             +1 727 647 1274

	     Those who cast the vote decide nothing.
	     Those who count the vote decide everything.
	       -- (Josef Stalin)


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