Xref: utzoo comp.sys.amiga:45981 comp.sys.ibm.pc:40183 comp.sys.mac:44530 Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!hellgate.utah.edu!hellgate!jacobs From: jacobs@cs.utah.edu (Steven R. Jacobs) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: User interface(was Re: Xerox sues Apple!!!) Message-ID: Date: 18 Dec 89 15:07:20 GMT References: <6767@tank.uchicago.edu> <1989Dec17.112127.27333@me.toronto.edu> <14960@boulder.Colorado.EDU> <1989Dec17.223025.6618@me.toronto.edu> <14969@boulder.Colorado.EDU> Organization: University of Utah CS Dept Lines: 42 In-reply-to: kuo@boulder.Colorado.EDU's message of 18 Dec 89 05:43:40 GMT In article <14969@boulder.Colorado.EDU> kuo@boulder.Colorado.EDU (KUO ANDY Y) writes: > My main points are : The computer for the general users should not be > command driven. > The real use for computers when *everyone* can > use it as a source for information/communication, > just like a telephone. > > To reduce the learning curve and be intuitive, standalized pull > down menus, mouse, window, dialogs is superior than purely command > driven. Menus and mice are great when you are first learning to use a system, but they get in the way of experienced users. An ideal system should not _force_ the user to use a mouse/menu system, just as an ideal system should not _force_ the user to type commands. An ideal system should allow the user to use _either_ the mouse or the keyboard, based on the preference of the user. Neither the Mac nor the PC are even close to ideal in this regard. Apple had a great opportunity to make an ideal system with the Mac, but they blew it by forcing the mouse on everyone. Sure, lots of applications will give you a choice in many commands, but this is not part of the standard interface -- you can't even start up the application without using the mouse. This is a bug, not a feature. It would have been better if everything could be done both ways. > I believe the netters will agree with me that the success of UNIX is > not because of its command driven interface. The power is in its system, > after so many fixes. > Here is the point again, why are people building XWindow, *View..etc on > it? If the innard of UNIX is so intuitive, why bother with these > windowing systems? The point _isn't_ that mice/menus are bad. The point is that being *forced* to use the mouse is bad. For many, it is much more efficient to type in commands rather than drag the mouse through a bunch of menus. For others, it is much easier to use the menus. The Mac doesn't give the user much choice. If keyboards are so evil, then why do so many Mac applications have keystroke "shortcuts" for most of their commands? Again, giving the user a _choice_ is a better solutions. -- Steve Jacobs ({bellcore,hplabs,uunet}!utah-cs!jacobs, jacobs@cs.utah.edu)