Rick Castello <rick at 404.978.org> writes: > 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? -snip- I don't think that is a helpful analogy. I doubt [1] people find driving as frustrating as they do using a computer. Please choose an example where the "standards" are as easily changed as user-interfaces and where people have lots of trouble. Random remark: My impression from comp.risks and various TV (Nova?) programs about fighter planes, is that when airplane accidents are investigated and attributed to "pilot/human error", that often is a code for "despite lengthy training and actual experience, pilots still find the user-interface so confusing that they screw up, but rather than blame the confusing interface, let's just say it's entirely the pilot's fault". - tky