Re: [NTLK] Ten years later, oregano is in the air

Jon,

> It strikes me that Microsoft really doesn't know what they are
> aiming for.

That's pretty much true of a lot of devices which is why we are
seeing all kinds of combinatorial experiments in the hope that one of
them will click with a decent number of customers.

I generally agree with you that most people are not interested but I
think it's that they can't be fagged to have to use a computer - no
matter what its size. Count me in to that group despite having been
around the damn things for 30 years.

The glacial progress of interfaces over the last 20 years means that
computers have become ever more complex to learn, use and maintain.
Recent experiences of teaching people who have never used a modern
computer before reveals just how desperately poor they are. Shrinking
them makes no difference.

The Newton scores in one important respect because of all my devices,
it requires the least tending - it just works, year after year and I
don't have to do anything. However, it's still too opaque, too modal
and too complex for general consumption.

I just read a report that 50% of goods are returned, not because they
are defective, but because the buyer cannot make them work properly.
When challenged, even executives of companies manufacturing
electronic devices could not make their own products work. This is a
massive failure of interfaces and the understanding of the user's
requirements.

So I'm with you - Origami means nothing.

Joel.

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