Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!munnari.oz.au!uhccux!ames!sgi!shinobu!odin!delrey!shap
From: shap@delrey.sgi.com (Jonathan Shapiro)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Think against MPW interface war (was Re: MPW wish list)
Message-ID: <3798@odin.SGI.COM>
Date: 8 Feb 90 19:06:52 GMT
References: <71.25cdb0c2@waikato.ac.nz> <1990Jan23.065751.29303@peace.waikato.ac.nz> <1990Jan25.003918.2359@cs.UAlberta.CA> <1990Feb6.065019.22828@Neon.Stanford.EDU> <1496@smurf.ira.uka.de>
Sender: news@odin.SGI.COM
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA
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In article <1496@smurf.ira.uka.de> urlichs@smurf.ira.uka.de writes:
>Please, don't. Not another I-like-MPW versus I-like-Think war.
>
>Some people like/need/must use one, and some the other.
>There is absolutely no rational basis for saying "X is better than Y", only
>"I use X rather than Y because of Z".
>-- 
>Matthias Urlichs

Here here! I wholeheartedly agree that there isn't much profit to be
had in arguing about people's sense of aesthetic in the context of
computer interfaces.  I am hard pressed to think of a case in which
a person's preference in this domain might be considered morally
repugnant.

On the other hand, and in support of my earlier comments on MPW
editing, the fact that people have strongly disagreeing senses of
taste and preference is a strong argument in favor of tools build to
be as modular as possible.  I'm not interested in trying to persuade
Apple to right MY favorite editor into MPW.  It isn't THEIR favorite
editor, so even if they did it it is likely they would get it wrong.
I AM trying to get them to tell ME how to build it for myself.

Now, a response that says: "We don't have the resources to solve that
problem" is acceptable.  A response that says "we think your screwed
up and we won't consider what you want because it disagrees with our
views on the Rightness Of Things" is just stupid.

Jon Shapiro