Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!kazim
From: kazim@Apple.COM (Alex Kazim)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: ResEdit nostalgia (reprise)
Summary: Why 2.0 is better
Message-ID: <43472@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 31 Jul 90 20:10:31 GMT
References: <1115.26b46ea3@waikato.ac.nz>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 34

In article <1115.26b46ea3@waikato.ac.nz> ccc_ldo@waikato.ac.nz (Lawrence D'Oliveiro, Waikato University) writes:
>
>Also, I question the usefulness of those cute icons you now get to
>show each resource type. I just find that they reduce the number of types
>that can be displayed in the window, without telling me anything I
>don't already know. It might be useful if they told you whether
>ResEdit actually had an editor for each type, but they don't even do
>that.

You could use the "View" menu to display the types (and sizes) without
the icons.  I think the original plan was that the icon should only be
present if a template existed, but since ResEdit itself is tailorable, 
this may not always hold true.

As for utility, I think they are helpful in giving the user a quick visual
clue as to the contents.  All too often people try to cram too much meaning
into an icon, and I think some of these icons suffer from that particular
disease.  However, an ugly icon doesn't mean all icons are bad.

>The point I'm trying to make is that people who use ResEdit aren't
>novice users: any ease-of-use enhancements should be aimed at people
>with a certain level of sophistication, and I just think that the icon
>display--in its present form--misses the mark.
>

It's true that ResEdit users were pretty much power users, but the question
is whether that should continue to be the case.  I think the new version of
ResEdit goes a long way into allowing easy access to a larger number of
users.

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Alex Kazim, Apple Computer
We have one heavily armed recreational vehicle here
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