Article View: comp.sys.mac
Article #20069Re: A Design Philosophy
From: Steve Humphrey
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1987 05:59
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1987 05:59
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2143 bytes
In article <399@sdics.ucsd.EDU> norman@sdics.UUCP (Donald A. Norman) writes:
>If a design flaw leads to errors, it isn't the user who should be
>blamed for making the error. Telling the user about the danger is not
>sufficient. The proper design avoids the possibily of the error in
>the first place. Users are human, and humans err. (It is a
>fundamental part of our operation, in part, I believe because many of
>the information processing features that make us reliable, creative,
>and imaginiative have as side effects error. (This is an informed,
>professional opinion, on which I have written much.)
Here Here! (There? There?)
When the Macintosh was introduced in Feb (?) 1984, Apple put one up on
stage and, with a specially hacked up macintalk file, had it introduce
itself with an amplifier and a microphone.
The text, which I remember almost verbatim and which came (I believe)
from the first glossy pamphlet produced, said that Apple engineers
"worked night and day, and a few legal holidays, teaching tiny silicon
chips about people: how they make mistakes and change their minds. ."
Now just when, pray tell, did we teach the Mac ( or for that matter,
any other hardware, software, peripheralware, or etcware) that it no
longer had to compensate for the MISTAKES OF PEOPLE.
--
Steve Humphrey USPS: P.O. Box 1285
humphrey@skat.usc.edu (NOT castor.usc.edu anymore!) Dixon, CA 95620
"There is beauty all around, when there's love at home."
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Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!rutgers!mit-eddie!bloom-beacon!oberon!skat.usc.edu!humphrey From: humphrey@skat.usc.edu (Steve Humphrey) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: A Design Philosophy Message-ID: <4665@oberon.USC.EDU> Date: Sat, 10-Oct-87 01:59:37 EDT Article-I.D.: oberon.4665 Posted: Sat Oct 10 01:59:37 1987 Date-Received: Mon, 12-Oct-87 04:29:13 EDT Sender: nobody@oberon.USC.EDU Reply-To: humphrey@skat.usc.edu (Steve Humphrey) Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA Lines: 28