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Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!kazim
From: kazim@Apple.COM (Alex Kazim)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer,comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: DTS and Compatibility (Was: MF)
Summary: Cars & Mansions
Message-ID: <29046@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 16 Apr 89 01:21:30 GMT
References: <1562@neoucom.UUCP> <28399@apple.Apple.COM> <3637@brunix.UUCP> <1304@internal.Apple.COM> <3918@brunix.UUCP> <28878@apple.Apple.COM> <378@lloyd.camex.uucp> <28942@apple.Apple.COM>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 43

In article <28942@apple.Apple.COM> mjohnson@Apple.COM (Mark B. Johnson) writes:
>
>Whoa.  Don't we wish.  Try beat up car and rent payments for most of us.
                            ^^^^^^^^^^^>
>Mark B. Johnson                                            AppleLink: mjohnson
>Developer Technical Support                         domain: mjohnson@Apple.com
>Apple Computer, Inc.         UUCP:  {amdahl,decwrl,sun,unisoft}!apple!mjohnson
>

Well, Mark, I wouldn't exactly call your car beat up.:-)

Actually, I have to agree with a lot of the netters: There are a lot of
Apple programs out there that don't strictly follow the guidelines. (one
of the worse is selection vs list manager).

Bill A. takes a lot of liberties with the interface because he can.  A lot
of the work he does is ground-breaking, where no-man has gone before, etc.
If he comes up with a "new" way to do things, and it's his project, then
it really is his call.  

If you've got a new way of doing something, then use it.  But if ONE person
is confused, becuase it doesn't work the way it should, then you've
failed.

A lot of people have wondered why Apple is slow to accept stuff like 
pop-up or tear-off menus, or other items that extend the interface, and
the answer is we're not.  All extensions go thru a LOT of user-testing.
Things that might seem trivial to you, may confuse the heck out of
someone else.  I think we learned that lesson with the "Pandora's Box"
user testing of putting together a Mac II.

Also, think about international users.  A picture of push-button phone
may seem perfectly reasonable, but the user in Inssbruk, Austria, would
probably wonder why there isn't a dial on it.

So, by all means come up with new ideas, but spend time on it.  Think about
how my mother would use it, whether it would confuse her.

====================================================================
Alex Kazim, Apple Computer
This soapbox is mine, not Apple's.  So are the opinions.
"Chaos is Great" -- Michael Keaton
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