6 May
2002
6 May
'02
11:48 p.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Glen Goodwin" <acme_ent(a)bellsouth.net>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 11:07 PM
Subject: Re: APPLEVISION Monitor
Is it because of Bill, or because it's simply so?
Dick
Twenty-eight years ago, I walked up to a Teletype ASR33
hooked to a Control Data 6500 and started writing BASIC
programs, and the closest thing to training I had was
to find a drawer containing some end-user documentation.
Five years later, on my first day of my first professional
full-time position as a programmer on a system I'd never
used before (a Prime), I was handed a magtape from another
system I'd used only once or twice (an HP 2000/Access system),
and before the day was over, had pulled the programs from
the tape and had several of them running.
But I'm a geek. At what cost have we dumbed-down the computer
so that nearly anyone can use it? And are you aware that in
the minds of marketing people, the market is *far* from
saturated, as there are still lots of people who never use
them and don't have them. So you can expect another order of
magnitude of dumbing-down...
-dq
From:
Sean 'Captain Napalm' Conner <spc(a)conman.org>
So why do people expect to get immedate work out
of a computer without
training?
Because Bill Gates said they could.
Glen
0/0 
7 May
7 May
12:11 a.m.
On Tue, 7 May 2002, Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote:
so that nearly anyone can use it? And are you aware
that in
the minds of marketing people, the market is *far* from
saturated, as there are still lots of people who never use
them and don't have them. So you can expect another order of
magnitude of dumbing-down...
In the minds of marketing people, what seems to be needed is making the
computer into an appliance. I don't see how this idea is compatible with
the flexibility current users have come to expect
--
4:49 a.m.
Paul Thompson wrote:
On Tue, 7 May 2002, Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote:
As usual, marketing people have it bass-ackwards. What you want to do is
to turn appliances into computers, and that's what's happening.
Everything else will flow from that, given access, which is where the
battle is.
But this is classiccmp, not scificomp.
jbdigriz
so that nearly anyone can use it? And are you
aware that in
the minds of marketing people, the market is *far* from
saturated, as there are still lots of people who never use
them and don't have them. So you can expect another order of
magnitude of dumbing-down...
In the minds of marketing people, what seems to be needed is making the
computer into an appliance. I don't see how this idea is compatible with
the flexibility current users have come to expect
3:05 a.m.
"Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote:
But I'm a geek. At what cost have we dumbed-down
the computer
so that nearly anyone can use it? And are you aware that in
the minds of marketing people, the market is *far* from
saturated, as there are still lots of people who never use
them and don't have them. So you can expect another order of
magnitude of dumbing-down...
It is not hiding information that is the problem, it is
locking the knowlage it in a safe, throwing away the key
and dumping in the sea.
--
Ben Franchuk - Dawn * 12/24 bit cpu *
www.jetnet.ab.ca/users/bfranchuk/index.html
4:51 a.m.
GAWD! ... doesn't anybody use a spell-checker anymore?
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ben Franchuk" <bfranchuk(a)jetnet.ab.ca>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 9:05 AM
Subject: Re: Ease of Use (Was: Re: APPLEVISION Monitor)
"Douglas H. Quebbeman" wrote:
But I'm a geek. At what cost have we
dumbed-down the computer
so that nearly anyone can use it? And are you aware that in
the minds of marketing people, the market is *far* from
saturated, as there are still lots of people who never use
them and don't have them. So you can expect another order of
magnitude of dumbing-down...
It is not hiding information that is the problem, it is
locking the knowlage it in a safe, throwing away the key
and dumping in the sea.
--
Ben Franchuk - Dawn * 12/24 bit cpu *
www.jetnet.ab.ca/users/bfranchuk/index.html
4:19 a.m.
New subject: Ease of Use
Where's the sin in making the computer more accessible to the masses by
"dumbing it down?" I don't see that it makes it less powerful for the user
to
whom that makes a difference, while it makes it cheaper for everybody, thanks
to the economy of the vast scale on which they're produced, in their
dumbed-down state. Just because a car can go 100 mph doesn't mean it can't
serve very well at 35.
If you think you need a less-dumb OS, this thread's clearly demonstrated that
there's a wider range than the man on the street would probably believe. I'd
say we should let 'em do what they will, not that we can do anything about it,
and capitalize on the benefits their buying habits produce for us. Clearly,
nobody has to use an OS they don't like. Once people need more muscle,
somebody will provide it and get rich shipping it.
Dick
----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas H. Quebbeman" <dquebbeman(a)acm.org>
To: "ClassicCmp List" <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 5:48 AM
Subject: Ease of Use (Was: Re: APPLEVISION Monitor)
----- Original
Message -----
From: "Glen Goodwin" <acme_ent(a)bellsouth.net>
To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Monday, May 06, 2002 11:07 PM
Subject: Re: APPLEVISION Monitor
Is it because of Bill, or because it's simply so?
Dick
Twenty-eight years ago, I walked up to a Teletype ASR33
hooked to a Control Data 6500 and started writing BASIC
programs, and the closest thing to training I had was
to find a drawer containing some end-user documentation.
Five years later, on my first day of my first professional
full-time position as a programmer on a system I'd never
used before (a Prime), I was handed a magtape from another
system I'd used only once or twice (an HP 2000/Access system),
and before the day was over, had pulled the programs from
the tape and had several of them running.
But I'm a geek. At what cost have we dumbed-down the computer
so that nearly anyone can use it? And are you aware that in
the minds of marketing people, the market is *far* from
saturated, as there are still lots of people who never use
them and don't have them. So you can expect another order of
magnitude of dumbing-down...
-dq
From:
Sean 'Captain Napalm' Conner <spc(a)conman.org>
So why do people expect to get immedate work out
of a computer without
training?
Because Bill Gates said they could.
Glen
0/0
8311
days inactive
8311
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6 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
-
bfranchuk＠jetnet.ab.ca -
dquebbeman＠acm.org -
edick＠idcomm.com -
jbdigriz＠dragonsweb.org -
thompson＠mail.athenet.net