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I congratulate you to your cunning grandmother! It's good to hear that she keeps up. Anyway, "something not impossible to master" might not be necessarily opti

by preek 16y ago

I congratulate you to your cunning grandmother! It's good to hear that she keeps up. Anyway, "something not impossible to master" might not be necessarily optimal. In your scenario of browser usage the mouse adds an unneeded layour of complexity in terms of usability. Whilst human beings are normally used to interact with their hands directly, sometimes they were apt enough to design tools when their hands just weren't enough. With hands you can't make a fire. With hands you can't dig up a field. What you can do with your hands is push a button or a link. There's no need for an abstracted tool. The mouse provides nothing a single touch wouldn't. The mouse just provides clutter. Still, I'm glad for your grandmother to have mastered it though. Whatever works to make people happy. Personally, I also have a mouse on my workstation, but I'm an edge case^

Tichy 16y ago
I realize it is silly to dispute somebody else's experience. If the iPad worked for that grandfather, and the mouse didn't, what can I say. It just seems to me the "revolutionariness" of the iPad tends to be blown out of proportions. I'd guess that a lot of older people could have a problem with the tiny screen, for example. Supporting a granny on Windows and a mother on Linux, I have certainly seen a fair amount of unintuitive and confusing user interfaces. I don't want to defend all the design decisions in desktop computers (fwiw, I think Ubuntu provides by far the best experience for older people who need support from their younger relatives, but that is for another subject). Of course just cropping away functionality until only "unconfusing" stuff is left is one way to approach the problem. I don't think it is the best solution for everybody, though.
- preek 16y ago
  Certainly cropping away needed functionality is not a very decent approach. But let me start with your comment. Since it is my grandfather this article is about, I can assure you that he had a pretty nice LCD screen on his old PC. It was only a 17", but it was a Samsung SyncMaster providing good quality. Besides, my grandfathers eyes are probably better than my own. And I'm not kidding here - I don't need glasses, but with his glasses on he kills my eyesight whereever we go. So it wasn't the monitor, it definitively was the mouse. But not only that. It was a desktop PC. There's no way comparing the clumsy process of reading a mail on a desktop PC to that on an iPad. PC: Step 1. You don't know you got a mail, you poll them. In this case we're not talking about tech guys who have an always running computer. Step 2. Go to your computer. Step 3. Start monitor, start PC, (start modem) Step 4. Wait. Step 5. Login Step 6. Connect to the internet. Step 7. Start your favourite mail application. Step 8. Wait. Step 9. Probably you got mail last week. Go ahead and read it. iPad Step 1. Your iPad is laying on the couch table. It beeps. Step 2. You take the iPad into your hands and unlock it with one click and one sweep. Step 3. Mail.app tells you there is one message. You click on it. Step 4. Read the message. There was a lot less walking and using potential keyboards and mice involved with the iPad. I personally like that experience a lot better for "non tech folk". Plus I like it on my phone. A lot. I hear you when you talk about Ubuntu. I personally look after several installations of friends (sometimes girls). All of them are very happy with their computers. No viral problems, no bluescreens, no constant reboots. If they need something new I can install it remotely or talk them through on the phone. Yet, all these users are "powerusers". They need Office. They need a printer. Many people don't. That enables them to a lesser complex toolset. The iPad provides that. It could have been a good Android tablet. I'm a big fan of Linux and have been a SUN employee back in the day. But honestly, there is no good Android tablet out there to compete with the iPad right now.
  - what 16y ago
    You comparison is unfair. Why can't you just leave the computer on, connected to the internet and logged in to your email? Then all that's left is walking over and taking a look. You might have to walk to fetch your iPad too...
    - preek 16y ago
      Because the average person wouldn't want a 300W computer + 100W monitor running all the time. Besides, if you're still on a modem, you probably want your telephone to not be occupied all the time. It keeps the bills down and let's face it: There's no usecase for an average person to have a computer running all the time. It's like having your TV and radio running all the time. You could do it, but you better shouldn't for various reasons.
      - orangecat 16y ago
        Because the average person wouldn't want a 300W computer + 100W monitor running all the time. Sleep mode actually works on PCs these days. There's rarely any need to shut them down completely.
        Tichy 16y ago
        Also modern computers don't consume 300W anymore. Get a notebook or a netbook.
        preek 16y ago
        Yeah, sleep mode works. But you won't be online. There's no notification. You still have to pull your information manually. Plus if you're on a modem there's a lot of manual work involved in getting online whilst with 3G there is just no being offline.
      - dkersten 16y ago
        Monitors have power buttons and desktops have little reason to use anywhere even close to 300W when idle - or do you leave 3D games running when you're computer is not in use? Anyway, since we're talking about your grandfather here, his computer really doesn't need to be all that powerful, to theres plenty of opportunities to keep power usage way way down. Having said that, I completely understand your argument and agree that an iPad which is always connected on a 3g data plan, can be carried around and beeps when messages arrive really is easier and more old-person friendly.

by preek 16y ago

Tichy 16y ago

I realize it is silly to dispute somebody else's experience. If the iPad worked for that grandfather, and the mouse didn't, what can I say. It just seems to me the "revolutionariness" of the iPad tends to be blown out of proportions. I'd guess that a lot of older people could have a problem with the tiny screen, for example. Supporting a granny on Windows and a mother on Linux, I have certainly seen a fair amount of unintuitive and confusing user interfaces. I don't want to defend all the design decisions in desktop computers (fwiw, I think Ubuntu provides by far the best experience for older people who need support from their younger relatives, but that is for another subject). Of course just cropping away functionality until only "unconfusing" stuff is left is one way to approach the problem. I don't think it is the best solution for everybody, though.

preek 16y ago
Certainly cropping away needed functionality is not a very decent approach. But let me start with your comment. Since it is my grandfather this article is about, I can assure you that he had a pretty nice LCD screen on his old PC. It was only a 17", but it was a Samsung SyncMaster providing good quality. Besides, my grandfathers eyes are probably better than my own. And I'm not kidding here - I don't need glasses, but with his glasses on he kills my eyesight whereever we go. So it wasn't the monitor, it definitively was the mouse. But not only that. It was a desktop PC. There's no way comparing the clumsy process of reading a mail on a desktop PC to that on an iPad. PC: Step 1. You don't know you got a mail, you poll them. In this case we're not talking about tech guys who have an always running computer. Step 2. Go to your computer. Step 3. Start monitor, start PC, (start modem) Step 4. Wait. Step 5. Login Step 6. Connect to the internet. Step 7. Start your favourite mail application. Step 8. Wait. Step 9. Probably you got mail last week. Go ahead and read it. iPad Step 1. Your iPad is laying on the couch table. It beeps. Step 2. You take the iPad into your hands and unlock it with one click and one sweep. Step 3. Mail.app tells you there is one message. You click on it. Step 4. Read the message. There was a lot less walking and using potential keyboards and mice involved with the iPad. I personally like that experience a lot better for "non tech folk". Plus I like it on my phone. A lot. I hear you when you talk about Ubuntu. I personally look after several installations of friends (sometimes girls). All of them are very happy with their computers. No viral problems, no bluescreens, no constant reboots. If they need something new I can install it remotely or talk them through on the phone. Yet, all these users are "powerusers". They need Office. They need a printer. Many people don't. That enables them to a lesser complex toolset. The iPad provides that. It could have been a good Android tablet. I'm a big fan of Linux and have been a SUN employee back in the day. But honestly, there is no good Android tablet out there to compete with the iPad right now.
- what 16y ago
  You comparison is unfair. Why can't you just leave the computer on, connected to the internet and logged in to your email? Then all that's left is walking over and taking a look. You might have to walk to fetch your iPad too...
  - preek 16y ago
    Because the average person wouldn't want a 300W computer + 100W monitor running all the time. Besides, if you're still on a modem, you probably want your telephone to not be occupied all the time. It keeps the bills down and let's face it: There's no usecase for an average person to have a computer running all the time. It's like having your TV and radio running all the time. You could do it, but you better shouldn't for various reasons.
    - orangecat 16y ago
      Because the average person wouldn't want a 300W computer + 100W monitor running all the time. Sleep mode actually works on PCs these days. There's rarely any need to shut them down completely.
      - Tichy 16y ago
        Also modern computers don't consume 300W anymore. Get a notebook or a netbook.
      - preek 16y ago
        Yeah, sleep mode works. But you won't be online. There's no notification. You still have to pull your information manually. Plus if you're on a modem there's a lot of manual work involved in getting online whilst with 3G there is just no being offline.
    - dkersten 16y ago
      Monitors have power buttons and desktops have little reason to use anywhere even close to 300W when idle - or do you leave 3D games running when you're computer is not in use? Anyway, since we're talking about your grandfather here, his computer really doesn't need to be all that powerful, to theres plenty of opportunities to keep power usage way way down. Having said that, I completely understand your argument and agree that an iPad which is always connected on a 3g data plan, can be carried around and beeps when messages arrive really is easier and more old-person friendly.