
Computers shouldn't make people feel like idiots - fogus
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2132-computers-shouldnt-make-people-feel-like-idiots
======
patio11
Regarding file systems:

One absurdly frequent source of customer issues with Bingo Card Creator was "I
have no effective mental model of the file system, data as separate from
programs, and how the physical location of a file relates to my physical
location in the world."

I have a _huge_ number of customers who think that letters live in Word and
bingo cards live in Bingo Card Creator. If you think like that, you might be
unpleasantly surprised when you take your CD and install your Bingo Card
Creator at school, and then Bingo Card Creator doesn't have your bingo cards
in it any more. Actual quotes: "Did it lose them?", "I think my CD must have a
virus." (People have been socialized to think that anything that goes wrong
is, depending on the person, operator error or a virus/malware/etc.)

When I released the online version of Bingo Card Creator, which essentially
dispenses with the file/folder metaphor, this issue vanished. _poof_ Their
bingo cards really do live in Bingo Card Creator, for all intents and
purposes. (Putting "cloud" support in the downloadable version, on the other
hand, was a crashing failure -- probably a failure of communication on my
part.)

I think file systems are the new registry: something which should be hidden
behind several signs saying "There be dragons here!" and which power users can
be allowed to tweak, so that they can brag to their wives "Yep, it took me a
while, but I opened up a folder on my C drive and found your file, then I
copied it to your desktop. I'm good with computers, what can I say."

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decavolt
Stop Being An Idiot - [http://orderedlist.com/our-writing/blog/articles/stop-
being-...](http://orderedlist.com/our-writing/blog/articles/stop-being-an-
idiot/)

"Our job, when designing features and interfaces, is to make them powerful,
usable, and understandable. Not to cater to those people too lazy to think.
Our job is to make things intuitive. But intuition still requires an
individual to want to understand something. It requires an attempt to
understand. It requires thought, even subconsciously. We have little power
over people’s desire to succeed. We can only provide the tools to do so. So
teach people, don’t criticize them."

~~~
tdoggette
It's hard for gentle pushing from software design to overcome years of learned
helplessness.

~~~
lurkinggrue
Around 92 I was forced into a required class for basic computers. I didn't pay
much attention, but got A's as it was covering topics I already knew well.
What I did learn from that class was from the students as I noticed many were
just downright afrid of the machines and would only do what the teacher said.

There was no sense of play and the fear of "Blowing something up" was always
there and I wondered how anybody could learn with that kind of fear.

I can understand getting frustrated but fear of the machine was baffling but I
got a good glimpse on how "regular" people reacted to technology.

~~~
pyre
There will always be people like that. My grandmother used to live with us as
I was growing up, and she was _always_ afraid of technology. She was afraid to
touch the electronic thermostat... even though it only had two buttons and
just displayed the set temp and the current temp. She was deathly afraid that
she would 'break' it.

{edit} On the other hand, you also have people that constantly break things as
a result of their own actions, and refuse to change. My friend's sister would
be constantly corrupting her external hard drive because she would just yank
the plug to remove her laptop from her desk. My friend would fix things and
_repeatedly_ tell her _not_ to do that, but it would always happen again.

People are _all_ over the spectrum. There are people that are just downright
afraid of new things, and there are people that just take everything for
granted (not caring what the consequences of their actions are).

~~~
roundsquare
_My friend's sister would be constantly corrupting her external hard drive
because she would just yank the plug to remove her laptop from her desk._

In the short term, your friend should tell her that she won't fix it anymore
(or should have, whatever).

In the long term, thats a design problem. Not that I know how to fix it, but
the idea that you can't just disconnect is something that needs teaching. If
we can find a way that people can disconnect hardware (e.g. USB drives) that
would be a _good thing._

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megamark16
As with most things, which side you're on isn't as important as the fact that
you're having the discussion. I'm excited to see what Apple's competitors come
back with to combat the seeming ease of use and simple interface that the iPad
is bringing to market. I'm not a big fan of Apple products, but I'm a huge fan
of driving innovation...so I guess I am a big fan of Apple as a company :-)

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davidmurphy
Agreed. My Mom wants an iPad, too.

~~~
dmix
I don't think my mom knows what an iPad is, yet, but if getting her one makes
her stop calling me with computer issues then I'm sold!

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loso
I can see both sides of this issue. My parents have no problem with the
computers for basic uses. My mom needs help more than my dad but if you tell
her once, then she is ok.

On the other hand, one time about 10 years ago, I used a friends computer to
print out a flier that I had made for a nightclub promotion. The name of the
file had a cuss word in it. I forgot that I had copied it to the desktop to
print it and the parents freaked. They were only a little bit mad about the
cuss word. They thought I had put a virus on their machine because I changed
the Desktop. They threatened to call the cops and try to have me kicked out of
college. I calmly went it over there, explained that it was only a picture,
and right clicked and erased it.

Until that point, I never realized that some people didn't know that you could
place files on the Desktop of a computer.

------
tensor
All the people defending the iPad as "the computer for the average person" are
missing one important point. Those of us upset about the iPad being a highly
restricted device, rather than an Apple tablet netbook, are not upset because
it is targeted to a different audience. We are not upset because we will not
be "the needed geek" anymore (I bet most are actually quite happy about that).

No. The problem is that Apple did not release anything else. They did not
release a product for "professionals." Thus, some, perhaps many, IT people are
upset because they were looking forward to a useful tool, and instead got a
toy for mom.

edit: And I want to add, there is no sign at all that an Apple tablet netbook
will ever be released. Many people are frightened that the iPad represents
where Apple is going for _all_ of their product line.

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willNotCompile
Somehow I don't think that learning how to operate a unique proprietary user
interface(iPad) will help people to operate a real desktop computer. While it
may temporary help to boost users self confidence in using a computer it will
only serve as a fallback after the inevetable frustrations with a full UI.

What is realy apsent from the mind of older generations is the idea that
computers are just tools, albeit imensly powerfull ones, and as with all tools
we need time and especially motivation to learn how to use them.

Personally, I don't give a damm how my car works but I had to learn how to use
it to get form one place to another and it would certainly be much harder to
do it if every other car had a radically diferent set of controlls.

~~~
asmosoinio
But why would all these people need a "real desktop computer"? People need to
read their emails, browse their facebooks, store and browse their images...
And most of them will get all this done easier with a simpler device than a
"real" computer.

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dkimball
One problem that I don't think the iPad's defenders are acknowledging is Joel
Splosky's "Law of Leaky Abstractions" --
[http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.htm...](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/LeakyAbstractions.html)
.

Of course, the ideal is to leak minimally; Apple has always been good at that,
but very bad at allowing anyone past the abstraction in the event that it
breaks down. I believe the analogy is "sports cars with their hoods welded
shut."

~~~
glhaynes
In what ways do you expect the iPad to have problems with this?

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sjs
On making people feel like idiots... do we still need KatMouse* on Windows 7?

* <http://ehiti.de/katmouse/>

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themanr
I don't think many people who have grown up using computers struggle with
basic file system concepts, installing programs or using office applications.
Maybe we have reached the stage where a basic understanding of computing,
along with basic numeracy and literacy, is necessary to function in modern
society?

~~~
glhaynes
I don't find this to be the case. Very very few non-techy people I know (young
or old) have a decent grasp of the file system, enough to have any confidence
in using it beyond dumping a few files into a folder, if even that. People who
use computers all day long in an office setting have issues with it. Kids who
use "Internet stuff" all day have issues, too -- because they never have to
deal with it, normally.

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francissson
This post is reminiscent of The Design of Everyday things. A book that
receives much praise but really annoyed me. Not so much the message, but the
way it was written.

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cesare
Sure. They should take it for granted. </sarcasm>

------
GrandMasterBirt
Another addition:

My grandmother just played a Wii for the first time. Now my Grandmother has
NEVER seen the thrill of video games since she first saw them 16 years ago. I
mean she had no desire to play any whatsoever. When she saw me with the Wii
she actually said "looks like fun, can I try?" and we played a game of bowling
on the Wii. She didn't quite get the buttons but the motions she did and she
had an absolute blast.

Its all about interaction with the computer, and letting people interact with
it in a natural way. Geeks care about "multitasking" on a computer, non-geeks
care about their computers always running at top speed for any application
they use. They don't care that you can have 100 windows open at a given time,
just the fact that 1 is open and works well and they'll close it an open
another. How many people here enjoy the fact that the blackberry allows multi-
tasking and you have to spend time worrying about background processes sucking
up your cpu?

I think this is the reason why the chrome os has tons of potential.

