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What changed is that computers went from a tool used by professionals who didn't start out as, but expected to become power users. To mass market devices intend
by njharman 8y ago
What changed is that computers went from a tool used by professionals who didn't start out as, but expected to become power users. To mass market devices intended for casual users who expect to not have to learn anything, to think/decise. aka for things to be intuitive.
Neither is inherently bad. The problem comes when you're apower user forced to. Use casual product or vice versa.
- vvillena 8y agoWhen did we give up on tools that scale well from casual users to power users?
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y agoAbout when the internet started taking off as a consumption medium I think. Desktop computers started to show up in every home and were largely there just as a gateway to the internet. Prior to that, they were mostly for office work and computing enthusiasts with the occasional non-computing-enthusiast gamer thrown in. Since the consumer market was much, much larger the focus shifted. The strange thing to me, though, is that once smart phones and tables took over as the preferred platform for internet consumption the desktop OSs didn't start reverting to targeting the market that still wants them. Instead they doubled down on trying to turn desktops into smart phones.
- njharman 8y agoThat, there are things that are great for everything, is a false belief. Everything is compromise. If something is good for everything, it is optimized for nothing. Power users don't want good. The need 100% optimized for purpose, the #1 best. Which, btw, means giving control and power to the user. The UI and design worlds push for the opposite extreme. All control (away from user), scripted, "experience" to the user. Those professions selling point "we know what's best for users". A sentiment which doesn't work for power users.