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From: torek@HORSE.EE.LBL.GOV (Chris Torek)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: the interface for the rest of us?
Message-ID: <9105042144.AA22495@horse.ee.lbl.gov>
Date: 4 May 91 21:44:07 GMT
References: <1991May4.172440.1851@casbah.acns.nwu.edu>
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I rarely comment on anything that appears on this list---my crystal
ball has been out of order for years---but this talk of making computers
act like pen-and-paper reminds me of something I posted to comp.editors
just three days ago.  I will reproduce it here, with the caveat that
I do not know whether emulating pen-and-paper is an example of what I
am talking about.  Only time will tell.

I will note here that at least some forms of shorthand are ambiguous,
requiring someone who understands the language and/or remembers part
of the conversation to transcribe into `long form'.  A coarse peach
is Sam big you us two. :-)

Chris

[excerpt from article <12686@dog.ee.lbl.gov>]

Whenever a new technology comes into existence, people spend an
enormous amount of effort on making it look like previous technologies,
with ridiculous (and often hilarious) results.  It takes time, and
often the retirement of those with inflexible minds, for the technology
to acquire its own `natural' model.  (Some would use the word
`paradigm' here, but `paradigm' means `example': in particular, an
example that is used to illustrate the underlying model.)

For a long time automobiles were considered `horseless carriages' and
much effort was put into making them look and act like carriages-
without-horses.

If someone had been able to figure out how to `blow out' electric
lights, you would have had to pick up the chimney on your lamp, rather
than turn the switch.

The standard answer on picking up the telephone was once `Ahoy'.
(People thought of telephones as speaking tubes, like those found on
ships.)

It all boils down to the fact that using an existing object as a
reference model makes it easier to `think about' the new technology,
but it also acts as a trap: it keeps people from considering
alternatives.