
Apple IIe Design Guidelines (1982) [pdf] - Aqua_Geek
http://www.apple2scans.net/files/1982-A2F2116-m-a2e-aiiedg.pdf
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plastroltech
This reminds me of some words of advice I noticed in an even older manual for
the Apple II floppy disk drive:

"To load a program named AGATHA, use the command LOAD AGATHA and the program
of that name, if there is one in the catalog, will be loaded. To test if
AGATHA is loaded, see if it can walk along a straight line."

[http://imgur.com/wWtR6wp](http://imgur.com/wWtR6wp)

~~~
pvg
The early Apple ][ docs were quite lighthearted. From the 'Applesoft
Tutorial':

[http://i.imgur.com/LfVSFK2.png](http://i.imgur.com/LfVSFK2.png)

~~~
pvg
Someone wrote (and then apparently deleted) an interesting comment pointing
out this was originally written by Jeff Raskin in the 'Apple II Basic
Programming Manual'.

The screenshots are from a later version called 'The Applesoft Tutorial',
revised by Caryl Richardson. That version has no author credits.

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canada_dry
Sigh. I really wish Apple and Microsoft would re-acquaint themselves with
these ancient Apple user interface guidelines/recommendations!

IMHO Microsoft has gone from the best UI to a horrible UI. No way of visually
discerning what is a button or other GUI component and what isn't is not a
improvement! The revolt due to their absurd VS GUI a while back is a great
example, but it's the subtle UI changes in their current offerings that are
most frustrating.

I switched to linux a while ago, and it has a long way to go ... but its an
upward curve vs. Apple/MS's downward spiral when it comes to UI.

~~~
nkkollaw
> but its an upward curve vs. Apple/MS's downward spiral when it comes to UI

It's upward because it's trying to catch up with Windows and macOS...

As much as I would love to love Linux, besides elementary OS the trend is
still to ignore looks and concentrate on code. Some apps are so poorly thought
out in terms of UI that they're almost impossible to use.

~~~
hackits
> Some apps are so poorly thought out in terms of UI that they're almost
> impossible to use.

Considering most of those apps probably are open source why don't you help out
and improve them?

~~~
nicky0
That's fine for a competent developer with a lot of time on their hands, but
do you consider this to be a practical approach for the average Linux user?

~~~
hackits
Average users don't use Linux. Considering that you're getting thousands of
man months for free by using the kernel and open source tools I would imagine
you pitching in to help with a little bit of your time.

~~~
nkkollaw
> Average users don't use Linux

You'd be surprised. My sister uses Ubuntu (no idea how she got the idea), and
she's in a totally different field.

> Considering that you're getting thousands of man months for free by using
> the kernel and open source tools I would imagine you pitching in to help
> with a little bit of your time.

People release open source projects for different reasons.

I don't think it should be required physically or ethically to have to pitch
in to help, even if one was capable of.

Fixing other people's code in a disk partitioner or text editor is not what
I'm passionate about nor what I want to spend time on. Then, I'd rather pay
(as I do) for Sublime Text and start working on things that I care about
already (on macOS—which I definitely pay for).

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flavio81
Interesting story is how the Apple _III_ is needlessly turned into a
reliability (and commercial) disaster because mr. Steve "genius" Jobs stupidly
insisted that the machine shall have no fans.

So the thing -dozens of ICs inside- overheated so much to the point of
failure. This was already warned by their (capable, well respected) designer
Wendell Sanders, but Jobs, being Jobs, wanted things his way.

Full story must be in folklore.org.

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abalone
That anecdote on user testing is a real screamer (p16). Who would have thunk
the most difficult UX issue would be asking users if they're using a color
monitor.

~~~
jacquesm
Back in the days of the Apple IIe color _monitors_ were extremely expensive.
The first one I bought (A Sony KX14CP1) cost me almost as much as the computer
it was connected to. Before then I used a small monochrome monitor (composite
video).

Color really wasn't something you could assume people had. late 80's is
roughly when color started to be 'normal' (mostly driven by the IBM PC
shipping with CGA since launch in '91) and people looked at you strangely if
you still had monochrome.

And even then, if you wanted high resolution chances were that you'd be
looking at a monochrome display.

~~~
imglorp
Plenty of us got by with color, but it was via an RF modulator to a little TV
set.

~~~
jacquesm
Yes, hence the 'monitor' in italics, color monitors were expensive, color TVs
were cheap (heck, you could find them at the garbage). Hacking color TVs to
give them RGB inputs was another avenue, as was bypassing the
modulator/demodulator step to push composite video straight into the TV at the
right spot to get a crisper image.

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naskwo
"a brief, 20 minute pause." The age of zen computing!

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505
My favourite bit of design advice is for when a program is about to delete a
lot of user data.

 _The program should require cognizant confirmation:_

    
    
      Are you sure you want to destroy 5 days' work? Type DESTROY 5 DAYS' WORK to confirm.

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505
Thank you for scanning and posting this. I have a copy kicking about and keep
meaning to share.

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fady
I love that it's pw protected. :/ Simply Beautiful. Boom.

