Tim wrote:
If the user does not use their brain, then all is lost. There's a number of people I've come very close to telling that they're too stupid to use a computer. No matter how many years of instructing, no matter how many years they complain about the same thing going wrong, they don't learn, they don't pay attention to the explanations, they just whinge at you while you're talking to them.
Yes, that's the point. For a lot of things, software should work like an appliance. If the thing that needs to be done can be predicted, just do it without offering any choices. Doesn't work for everything of course, but in many cases the best user interface is no user interface. Consider how itunes syncs with an ipod for example. If everything fits, you plug it in and do nothing. The device syncs with your library and charges up. It is the obvious thing to do and it does it with no annoying questions about whether you would like to sync now or charge the battery or anything else. Likewise if you subscribe to podcasts you can set it up to always download new ones when available - and to remove them after listening - and the 'listened' status propagates back from the ipod during a sync. And you can make a 'smart playlist' that has new podcasts. So, with this setup you just plug the ipod in occasionally and you always have up to date podcasts available and in a playlist. Where's the Linux software that matches this ease of use? Or that even lets me set up something once by picking from a few selections, then never asks again? -- Les Mikesell lesmikesell@xxxxxxxxx
