Computers: Too Easy to Use
Linked by David Adams on Wed 24th May 2006 04:08 UTC
Editorial 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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A moot point
by Pseudo Cyborg on Wed 24th May 2006 18:46 UTC
Pseudo Cyborg
Member since:
2005-07-09

The author really makes a moot point. A computer can be as "difficult" or as "easy" as the user wants to make it. Power Users can use the shortcuts they want and disable things as they see fit for themselves. Novices can continue to have their hands held.

It's the beauty of option. Not everyone is the same.

DHofmann also makes a very good point in the comment above:
"[The article] implies that power and simplicity are mutually exclusive. Here's a counterexample: TiVo. It's much more powerful than a VCR, and yet is much easier to use to record your favorite programs.

It takes creativity to make something simpler without sacrificing power, but it can be done."

That was the most well-said idea on the subject and a perfect example of something done quite well.

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