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Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: net.cog-eng
Subject: Re: mice, pens, and graphics
Message-ID: <3426@utzoo.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 28-Dec-83 18:21:03 EST
Article-I.D.: utzoo.3426
Posted: Wed Dec 28 18:21:03 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 28-Dec-83 18:21:03 EST
References: <3419@utzoo.UUCP>, <1144@rocksvax.UUCP>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
Lines: 21

I agree that there is a potential problem with people insisting on
doing things the old way for no good reason.  The point is that in
the case of artists, they have nontrivial motor skills which are
very much tied to pen-like objects.  I don't know how much retraining
would be involved to get the same skills down pat with (say) a puck,
but I do know that the machines are supposed to adapt to us and not
the other way around!  Claiming that the artists ought to be retrained
is like IBM's claim that I ought to get used to an extra key between
Z and SHIFT -- an outrageous imposition for no good reason.

Dave Sewhuk's example of doctors disliking new forms of presentation
from a CAT scanner is similar:  ok, they disliked the rotating kidney
because it was unfamiliar, but their diagnostic training was built
around the old thin-slices style of presentation.  It does seem likely
that the new form will make things easier in the long run, but in the
short run I would want my kidneys checked over by a doctor using a form
of presentation that he was familiar with.  There is a big difference
between making new forms available and making old forms unavailable!
-- 
				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry