Xref: utzoo comp.edu:1985 comp.cog-eng:931 Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!nrl-cmf!ames!lll-winken!ncis.llnl.gov!afit-ab!efrethei From: efrethei@afit-ab.arpa (Erik J. Fretheim) Newsgroups: comp.edu,comp.cog-eng Subject: Re: Meter Reading as Computer Literacy Message-ID: <840@afit-ab.arpa> Date: 23 Jan 89 18:15:16 GMT References: <12.UUL1.3#913@acw.UUCP> <928@novavax.UUCP> Reply-To: efrethei@blackbird.afit.af.mil (Erik J. Fretheim) Distribution: na Organization: Air Force Institute of Technology; WPAFB, OH Lines: 50 In article <928@novavax.UUCP> maddoxt@novavax.UUCP (Thomas Maddox) writes: >In article johnm@uts.amdahl.com (John Murray) writes: >>In article <12.UUL1.3#913@acw.UUCP>, guthery@acw.UUCP (Scott Guthery) >> >> [in a comp.edu discussion on the quality of education] writes: >> >>> Just when you think it can't get any worse ... New York Bell reports >>> that they had to interview 22,000 people to fill 2,000 *ENTRY LEVEL* >>Before flaming on about the supposedly poor education of the 20,000, I >>think we should ask precisely what type of displays caused the problem. > >and I was challenged to say why color was necessary. As almost all of >my PC use has been with IBM-compatibles, not Macs, I "naturally" >thought of color as appropriate, and I said in reply that a color >display meant more information, one, and, two, for any user, a readier >grasp of the environment's logical structure. Then I realized I >didn't know whether either of these things was really >significant--true, color offers more information, but is its presence >significant in terms of the user's interaction with the program? > > In sum: does color have a significant effect on a person's >ability to understand and/or use a system? and is there any evidence >that CRTs in general or types of CRTs in particular have an effect on >reading comprehension? > Nothing but personal opinion, but I have often found that the "helpful" color patterns on most PC applications have been more of a pain in the neck than a help. The colors distract attention and require that one shift ones frame of reference each time you look at a different portion of the screen. Colors are neat for games, but leave much to be desired for real work. Look at the newspaper. There the only sections with regularly appear in color are the comics and sports sections and we know what level of audience these are directed at :-) (except USA Today, but that falls in the same catagory as the afore mentioned sections). If color were so vital to the absorbtion of information, it would seem that the papers would have gone to color just as the TV's have (aduience level?) I stick to my BW (GB) monitor. cx