10 Sep
2007
10 Sep
'07
5:54 p.m.
On 10/09/2007, Jules Richardson <julesrichardsonuk at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
I think that is absolute reverse of the case, actually. Printing a new
manual is cheap; redesigning case mouldings or even just what's
printed onto the case means retooling production lines, producing
different models for different markets, tracking which country each
machine is destined for... Vast amounts of complexity. Any manager or
designer who suggested this would deserve to be fired for
incompetence.
Liam Proven wrote:
Education /in Britain/. It was the *BBC* Micro.
On 10/09/07, Rob <robert at irrelevant.com>
wrote:
I suspect it was more that the primary market was education, so it made sense
to be as user-friendly as possible by stating exactly what each port was. On 10/09/2007, Chuck Guzis <cclist at
sydex.com> wrote:
The BBC Micro, a machine designed in England for Brits. Keeping things on-vintage, when were icons first
used on PeeCee
hardware?
Hmm... I've been mystified by strange symbols above connectors on
the
backs of machines for a while now... Especially when it's from a
manufacturer I don't usually deal with. At least my own interest, the
BBC micro, got this right! Proper words on the ports.. Now, imagine you'd bought a French computer.
If the port was clearly
labelled IMPRIMATEUR. Would that help you?
If I bought a French computer I'd either rely on enough knowledge of French to
get by, or I'd look up what I needed to know.
Given that manuals and software have to be regionalised for the intended
market, it hardly seems much effort on the part of the manufacturer to issue
case decals that are also regionalised. There seems little excuse for a
pictogram that might be ambiguous in *all* languages just because the
manufacturer was lazy or was trying to save a few pennies. I suspect the number of times that a person is plonked
in front of an alien
machine with absolutely no knowledge of the written language of the country
from which the machine is from is pretty small. In most cases it would only
happen when the person is visiting a foreign country, and in that case you'd
expect them to be making an effort to understand the language anyway.
I think you believe that because you speak the world's most widespread
international language.
--
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