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One observation that really bugged me: > The burden is now on technically-skilled users to find out how to get where they want to go. It’s hard to argue with t

by pstuart 15y ago

One observation that really bugged me: > The burden is now on technically-skilled users to find out how to get where they want to go. It’s hard to argue with this logic. There should be no burden. Good UI should be scalable to let the 95% in to do their thing with no thought and no worries, but "expert mode" should follow that same mindset while exposing details.

schrototo 15y ago
I agree with that, but I don't understand how e.g. hiding the Library folder puts too much of a burden on those few who really need to access it. They're probably at home on the command line anyway. Sure, simplifications can go too far some times, but I'd say most self-declared "power users" don't really need what they think they need. When I saw that the new Safari doesn't display cookie details (like name, expiration date, etc.) in the privacy pane, I at first thought that they took away too much information. But then I came to realize that even though I could understand that information, I've never actually used it or had a need for it. All the information important in the context of privacy settings is available, and much more streamlined than in previous versions. And I shouldn't even really need to worry about any of that, since a good browser should take care of protecting my privacy for me (e.g. by blocking 3rd party and ad cookies by default, which Safari does). The only time I actually needed that cookie information was during web development, and in that context its still available via the Develop menu.
rflrob 15y ago
The potential problem here is that the mere existence of details sometimes trips up the 95%. A friend's spouse apparently likes to keep their home directory clean, and once deleted the Library folder because they hadn't put it there, and didn't think they needed it. When I upgrade to Lion, I know I'm going to try to figure out how to make ~/Library visible, but I think Apple may have made the right choice in making it invisible by default.
mmariani 15y ago
For those who want to have ~/Library where it always has been on Finder: chflags nohidden ~/Library
- djacobs 15y ago
  An alternative is to use the SetFile command, which can alter all kinds of file attributes on HFS+ and non-HFS+ volumes. I have the following in my bash profile: alias see='SetFile -a v' alias hide='SetFile -a V'

by pstuart 15y ago

schrototo 15y ago

I agree with that, but I don't understand how e.g. hiding the Library folder puts too much of a burden on those few who really need to access it. They're probably at home on the command line anyway. Sure, simplifications can go too far some times, but I'd say most self-declared "power users" don't really need what they think they need. When I saw that the new Safari doesn't display cookie details (like name, expiration date, etc.) in the privacy pane, I at first thought that they took away too much information. But then I came to realize that even though I could understand that information, I've never actually used it or had a need for it. All the information important in the context of privacy settings is available, and much more streamlined than in previous versions. And I shouldn't even really need to worry about any of that, since a good browser should take care of protecting my privacy for me (e.g. by blocking 3rd party and ad cookies by default, which Safari does). The only time I actually needed that cookie information was during web development, and in that context its still available via the Develop menu.

rflrob 15y ago

The potential problem here is that the mere existence of details sometimes trips up the 95%. A friend's spouse apparently likes to keep their home directory clean, and once deleted the Library folder because they hadn't put it there, and didn't think they needed it. When I upgrade to Lion, I know I'm going to try to figure out how to make ~/Library visible, but I think Apple may have made the right choice in making it invisible by default.

mmariani 15y ago

For those who want to have ~/Library where it always has been on Finder: chflags nohidden ~/Library

djacobs 15y ago
An alternative is to use the SetFile command, which can alter all kinds of file attributes on HFS+ and non-HFS+ volumes. I have the following in my bash profile: alias see='SetFile -a v' alias hide='SetFile -a V'