I love Don Norman's books, but you have to understand: He's a consultant. He runs a usability lab. That's his business. Get it? This is not a pure critique,

I love Don Norman's books, but you have to understand: He's a consultant. He runs a usability lab. That's his business. Get it? This is not a pure critique, although it certainly has valid points. It's a drum-up-money speech. You don't drum up money by saying "Yes, it has these problems, but hey, when personal computers were only 3 years old, we all had to swap floppies to move to the second half of our program!" Being fair and pragmatic doesn't get you massive clicks and money, unless you are very, very skilled at delivering pragmatic advice in a delicious and entertaining package. (And Norman is not.) EDIT: And neither does it do to undermine your business by admitting that, regardless of these flaws, people love the crap out of the damn things.