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From: danno@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Danno)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Undecipherable Icons (was Re: Xerox sues Apple!!!)
Message-ID: <18038@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>
Date: 28 Dec 89 01:37:16 GMT
References: <1328@key.COM>
Sender: news@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 36

In article <1328@key.COM> jsp@penguin.key.COM (James Preston) writes:
>
>Tell me that you knew immediately--without reading any
>documention and without any help from other mac users and without having
>seen any usage of any similar program before--that the little tipping can 
>with the stuff pouring out of it was used to fill an area with a pattern.
>Tell me that replacing that cute little picture with the words "fill area" 
>wouldn't be more straightforward.  (This is probably not even the best
>example of "undecipherable icon whose meaning could be better conveyed
>with a couple of words", but it's all I can think of right now.)
>
>--James Preston

Ooo ooo!  Can I make a nomination in the "undecipherable icons" category??

How about some of the icons Microsoft used for the keyboard equivalents of
menu commands?  "Option" is defined as split-level lines? Huh?  I still
haven't figured out one of them: the key-equivalent of "Plain for style" is
command-shift-<bracket that fell over>.  Where is this key?? (I do have the
extended keyboard, if some of you are not seeing this displayed as an
equivalent.)

Sure, it's unfair to get on them too much for this, since they did what they
could (and it's better than having the words written out), but I feel like
flaming irresponsibly tonight.  I'll give them this: I like that Word
recognizes my extended keyboard and gives me the extra equivalents for it. If
I could only remember them!

Ciao,
Danno

--
________ --------<--<-@     --------<--<-@     --------<--<-@ ________
\ <O    \ Daniel McKinnon '91            danno@dartmouth.edu / <- O> /
 |   } ( | It's always darkest before it turns pitch black. | ) {    |
/ <O -> /   "If any of my opinions are caught or killed..."  \    O> \