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From: humphrey@skat.usc.edu (Steve Humphrey)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: A Design Philosophy
Message-ID: <4665@oberon.USC.EDU>
Date: Sat, 10-Oct-87 01:59:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: oberon.4665
Posted: Sat Oct 10 01:59:37 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 12-Oct-87 04:29:13 EDT
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Reply-To: humphrey@skat.usc.edu (Steve Humphrey)
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
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In article <399@sdics.ucsd.EDU> norman@sdics.UUCP (Donald A. Norman) writes:
>If a design flaw leads to errors, it isn't the user who should be
>blamed for making the error.  Telling the user about the danger is not
>sufficient.  The proper design avoids the possibily of the error in
>the first place.  Users are human, and humans err.  (It is a
>fundamental part of our operation, in part, I believe because many of
>the information processing features that make us reliable, creative,
>and imaginiative have as side effects error.  (This is an informed,
>professional opinion, on which I have written much.)

Here Here! (There? There?)

When the Macintosh was introduced in Feb (?) 1984, Apple put one up on
stage and, with a specially hacked up macintalk file, had it introduce
itself with an amplifier and a microphone.

The text, which I remember almost verbatim and which came (I believe)
from the first glossy pamphlet produced, said that Apple engineers
"worked night and day, and a few legal holidays, teaching tiny silicon
chips about people: how they make mistakes and change their minds. ."

Now just when, pray tell, did we teach the Mac ( or for that matter,
any other hardware, software, peripheralware, or etcware) that it no
longer had to compensate for the MISTAKES OF PEOPLE.
--
Steve Humphrey                                         USPS:    P.O. Box 1285
humphrey@skat.usc.edu (NOT castor.usc.edu anymore!)          Dixon, CA  95620
         "There is beauty all around, when there's love at home."