Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ukma!husc6!mit-eddie!mit-amt!mjkobb From: mjkobb@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Michael J Kobb) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: What's that thing (really Mac philosophy) Summary: Oh, boy, I see a flame exchange in the making... Keywords: Easy Access etc Message-ID: <551@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> Date: 22 Aug 89 01:57:45 GMT References: <1446@draken.nada.kth.se> <34192@apple.Apple.COM> Reply-To: mjkobb@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Michael J Kobb) Distribution: comp.sys.mac Organization: MIT Media Lab, Cambridge MA Lines: 38 In article <34192@apple.Apple.COM> bnfb@Apple.COM (Bjorn Freeman-Benson) writes: >In article <1446@draken.nada.kth.se> d88-jwa@nada.kth.se (Jon W{tte) writes: >>>I've just noticed a strange looking "icon" in the upper right corner > >>If you would have taken two minutes to Read The F*cking Manual (RTFM) > >Ah, so according to Jon, Macs are now like IBMs: you must read the > manual to learn how to use it. Come on people, this is >the Mac, we don't read manuals. We shouldn't have to read manuals. >And if even if this fellow had read the manual, it would have taken >more than two minutes to find that little detail about Easy Access. Okay, I don't usually reply to messages along threads like this, but I feel the need this time. First, I hope that Jon meant his comment in a friendly way, as I infer from the caps in the "rude expression." As a community, Mac users are supposed to be supportive of one another. Since the Mac is designed to be used by non- programmer types, many of the features do get explained by friends, etc. I can certainly understand the sentiment behind RTFM, since I am frequently asked questions that seem trivial, but they're not trivial to the people who are asking them. Furthermore, Easy Access isn't what I would call a transparent function. In other words, its use is hardly apparent at first glance. This would seem especially true if it just suddenly started appearing on machines in a lab, which I think was the situation here. Easy Access must be invoked by an obscure key sequence that is virtually impossible to stumble upon, so its not something the average user would happen upon. That's why it isn't transparent: it is a special-purpose application that the average user wasn't supposed to have to deal with, unless he chose to. Also, the average user reading the update docs for System 6 would probably see the Easy Access section, and seeing no use for that function, skip the description, and consequently be unfamiliar with its operation. Okay, that's it for my $0.02. --Mike Disclaimer: I think that disclaimers are an incredibly sad statement about our society. Nonetheless, nothing that I say can or should be construed as having been said by anyone. Ever.