It's conventional wisdom that computers need to be "easier to use." But do they? More reliable, yes. Easier to troubleshoot, yes. But now that so many people use computers so much, I think there's something to be said for making them less easy-to-use and less intuitive.
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Member since:2005-09-02
It sounds like what you're looking for is a person, not a computer. Why should a computer have to act like a person? Do we expect any other piece of equipment to be anything other than what it is? Any complex piece of technology requires some knowledge and training to use. This is how technology is. I don't /want/ to talk to my computer. I don't /want/ to say some semantically correct, and even colloquial English sentence to get it to copy files. I want a reliable, consistent method that I know will work without the computer having to interpret my voice, words, accent.
I think you're being unreasonable and illogical. Sorry. Perhaps you could explain why you think computers are not "easy" enough if you can't talk to them like a normal person. I can think of some improvements I would make to my computer if I could, but a verbal interface, or any system which avoids me needing to be consistent, is not among them.
Member since:2005-07-06
Until computer interaction is as easy as having a conversation with a fellow (and reasonablly rational) human being, they are not easy enough. PERIOD.
I dunno, I'm sure the 'sterotypical geek' finds it easier to use a computer than hold a conversation. ;-) It's not like the goals are the same. Computers are more than just communication.
The personal computer is by far the most unreliable piece of equipment in the modern household or workplace.
Tell that to my kettle that blew up! In all seriousness, software reliability is a difficult problem, but it will not be realised by the current IT industry or 'mainstream' open-source. To quote Hoare, for reliability simplicity is an absolute prerequisite. Simplicity is HARD.
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The Verge pointed me to a blog post by Leap Motion - which reveals how their Kinect-like motion control works with Windows 8. "From the second you plug in your Leap Motion Controller, you'll be able to browse the web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air. With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can do everything that's possible with multi-touch inputs - without actually touching anything. This also means that existing applications in Windows 7 and 8 will respond to your natural hand and finger movements. Soon, we'll show you how Leap Motion will work with Mac OS X." Quite cool.PocketNow interviews Marc Dillon, and there's an interesting note about why Jolla is keeping the display properties under wraps: "We're leaving some of those details out because we do understand that there are a lot of really big players in the market and they tend to take certain components in the market and dominate them. We created the ability to actually be able to run Sailfish on multiple hardware displays and be able to swap components, so this is part of the demand and supply planning phase. We are committed to this industrial design which is a 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera at the front, and the exact specs of the display we'll provide when we're close to delivery." Something you rarely hear anything about.
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Member since:
2006-02-28
Okay, maybe you about face by the end of your article -- I admit I haven't finished it. But let's be clear, the opening is about the worse piece of "RTFM" illogic I have ever read.
Until computer interaction is as easy as having a conversation with a fellow (and reasonablly rational) human being, they are not easy enough. PERIOD.
Any familiarity with the way computers work now is but a crutch on the road to the eventual personfication of our automa.