Dragaera

Useability [was: Straw Poll]

Rick Castello rick at 404.978.org
Sat Nov 30 14:47:52 PST 2002

Thomas Yan said:
> Rick Castello <rick at 404.978.org> writes:

>>      or (gasp!) learn/remember the way the list works.
>
> I think this is about equally incorrect and unhelpful as saying people
> who can't spell are stupid.  This seems to me to be part of the
> attitude that if people have trouble using software, it's because
> people are stupid or too lazy to read the manual, rather than because
> the user-interface sucks.

     Not at all.  It's a simple matter of being able to function in
     an environment.  If you're used to driving a car in a right-hand
     drive country, and you go to a country where their cars and roads
     are designed for driving on the other side, is the bystander who
     reminds you of the way things work and suggests you remember them
     actually calling you stupid and being incorrect and unhelpful?

     You are perfectly able to petition the governing body of a thing
     (any thing, really) to switch things to work in a way you're more
     comfortable with, as you and others have done here.

     Doing so doesn't make you in the right, or change the fact that
     to function in the current environment (either until they change,
     or in case they don't ever), you will need to remember the way
     things WORK, rather than how you WISH they worked.

     If the paradigm were to change, anyone used to the current system
     would also have to remember the rules and factors of the new
     system in order to function.

     Where am I being incorrect or unhelpful?

> I will admit that, probably like just about everyone else, although I
> complain about crappy software, I have never written (snail or e-mail)
> to the companies to complain.

     You should.  They listen.  Especially the smaller ones.  :)

     -Rick