From: Robert Benschop (rbenschop_at_telebyte.nl)
Date: Sun Apr 25 2004 - 00:41:26 PDT
On 25-apr-04, at 09:05, Joel M. Sciamma wrote:
> 1/. Keep it simple. Too much choice is bad for mental health so hide a
> lot
> of the complexity with more intelligent code and better UI design.
> There is
> all this compute performance but little of it is being used to make
> good
> guesses about what I want. Don't have the computer whine at me for
> constant
> reassurance or confirmation - just get on with it.
Agrees, the Newton OS comes close to this, but has too much of a hard
time communicating and exchanging with other OS's.
I think this was part of the choice to move the UNIX way for Apple BTW,
the amount of solutions has probably quadrupled.
>
> 2/. Dump the file system. This archaic piece of rubbish should give
> way to a
> soup-like database system. MS are going probably to do it anyway and
> make us
> look stupid, so get in there and do it properly. The full monty with
> roll-back, field-level locking - the works. Guarantee that users will
> not
> lose hours of work and hearts and minds will be captured.
As a Newt user, again agreed, but I'm not sure that Apple could have
gone that way at this moment.
> 3/. Get the UI right. The interface should scale to handle newcomers
> and
> pros. Allow customisation in the OS so the user has control over the
> environment. Make the Finder spatial again. Be consistent. Don't hide
> functionality behind glitzy or invisible controls. Seriously improve
> responsiveness. Don't ignore established good practice in UI design.
> Actually design the software before building it. Hire the right people
> and
> do the R&D to move things forward. Stop tinkering and start innovating.
Again agreed, Panther comes close to this as far as I'm concerned. Even
Windows power users are completely surprised at the speed I get things
done in Panther.
Apart from any philosophical approach to me that's one of the paramount
issues, how fast/easy can I interact with the OS, Panther rarely let's
me waste any time...
> 4/. Stop using metal for laptops. This has to be the dumbest materials
> choice in the history of the company. Switch to carbon fibre
> composites as
> soon as the process is cheap enough for stiffer, lighter and more
> durable
> machines. WiFi might actually work properly and users would not feel
> like
> they were being electrocuted/frozen/cooked.
There I agree completely, though I would like to ad that they should
have to make them looking as cool as they do now. Quite a few of my
presentations are sold for 50% because they're presented on an Apple
laptop.
The combination of a fluent presentation on a gorgeous looking machine
works wonders. And anyway, beauty sells as it should, like you said,
life is too short...
Robert Benschop
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