Graham Trott wrote:
Mozilla is exactly the kind of tool I can use to sell Linux to my Windows user friends who tell me how wonderful GoLive! is. Telling them to hand-code in a text editor is pointless; the majority aren't even aware there IS a scripting language behind the pretty pictures. Judging by the way this thread has progressed I must have very different friends to some of the other folks in this group.
I know what you mean, Graham. I do sometimes wonder if some of the people on this list actually have any friends whose first language isn't binary. (No offence intended :D ).
I even often wonder why the QWERTY keyboard has been the main method of inputting text into a machine for nearly 140 years. Especially seeing as the QWERTY layout was intially designed to slow typists down.
When I go to heat my tea up in the microwave (it happens a lot) I don't have to edit a text config file by pressing "Shift-r" and then ":wq" to callibrate the speed the turntable turns at. I don't have to type "reheat -power full -time 00:00:30, eject /dev/door/" I just open the door, press "micro power", press "10s" three times and press "go".
When I press the remote on my TV I need ONE button to change the channel, I don't have feed in the frequency, brightness, contrast and aspect ratio with about three attempts before I get my syntax right.
I don't need to run a search on Google to switch my bedroom light on.
OK, I think you get my point now...
This isn't about being lazy or not taking an interest in the way things work. To me a computer isn't a monitor, keyboard, mouse and a box of tricks under the desk. A computer is a tool to help humans carry out tasks. A machine with an input, process and output. Much like a tin opener, a bike or even a microwave. The problem is a question of ergonomics, not of intelligence.
Perhaps bringing up the point of usable GUIs and ergonomics in relation to making web pages was a bad move. I've been there before and I always lose the argument.
To Dave, who said "I am *so* un-techy that I can't even get my soundcard to work in Linux." WHAT?! The fact that you're even ON this mailing list suggests that you at least know how to operate a keyboard, a mouse, a web browser and a mail reader - and more importantly, you know Linux *exists* and you know what a sound card is! In my book that makes you a *very* technical person.
This definately isn't a "I can do this in Windows but it looks hard in Linux" rant. I don't think Windows is at all intuitive, or even Apple Macs for that matter. I watch people using computers every day and nobody uses menus the way they were intended to be used. Nobody looks through all the menus on a web page to figure out where to go - they make a quick best guess and fumble around until they find what they're looking for. The general thought process is not "How did the creator of this page intend me to navigate it?" - it's "Don't make me think, I'm in a hurry."
Probably the favourite acronym amongst all of the cryptic jargon used by computer enthusiasts is RTFM. I'd like to raise the question: Should a computer *need* an instruction manual?
OK, now I've had my second rant of the week and probably upset a few people, I'm off to practice what I preach and try fixing a PHP script before bed...