4 ms·
The "letters to the editor" are really fun to read -- it's like reading the HN comments of the time, with the same combination of insight and cynicism. > In re
by NobodyNada 4y ago
The "letters to the editor" are really fun to read -- it's like reading the HN comments of the time, with the same combination of insight and cynicism.
> In response to Gregg Williams' editorial ("The New Generation of Human- Engineered Software," April, p. 6), the mouse of Lisa, Visi On, and their predecessor, the Xerox Star, is a truly fascinating hardware device, and on those few occasions that I have seen these devices in use, I have been impressed. But the mouse is not revolutionary, and, as its name suggests, it is really nothing more than a rodent. Its functional predecessor was the light pen. Some years ago, light pens were fashionable devices for selecting a particular function, and they are still in use. But displays attaching light pens had to have an appropriate phosphor, and they were not as easy to program as function keys. About the same time, touch- sensitive screens were introduced, and they are still used in applications such as online catalogs in libraries; here, too, however, programming appears to be the chief stumbling block.
> If the name of the game is "ease of use," the industry would be far wiser to develop touch-sensitive displays than mice. Because a display has no moving parts, it is likely to prove more durable than a mouse. And a finger placed on a display screen does not require additional desk space, as a mouse does. If an executive were having an office conference, don't you think he might rather touch his screen a couple of times than roll a mouse around his desk pressing buttons on it?
> There are, obviously, many considerations at work in the development of new products. My bet, simply stated, is that the mouse is not a viable product. At best, it will limp along like bubble memory. - John P. Rash, President, Acorn Data Ltd.
There's also:
- Several refutations to a previous letter which claimed CRT monitors are a radiation hazard
- An engineer from Intel responding to criticisms of their FORTRAN compiler with "those issues have been fixed in the latest version"
- Debate over structured programming and strong typing
- Debate on what "computer literacy" means and whether the general population needs it (including a claim that WYSYWIG editors and desktop file managers do not make computers easier to use because "a desktop manager is only a sophisticated analog for being able to copy one file into another")
- Conversations on software prices and piracy
- And, of course, someone pointing out a typo in an article.
- LeonenTheDK 4y agoThe more things change, the more they stay the same. I'm not even close to old but as I get more experienced I continue to see "what's old is new again" ring true.
- shafyy 4y agoI'm also not old and I observe the same pattern. Somehow, it has a comforting effect on me.
- michaelsbradley 4y agoAll things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already, in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to happen among those who come after. — Ecclesiastes chapter 1, verses 8-11, RSV translation. Written about 2500 years ago, +/- some centuries (experts disagree on date and author). It's maybe a bit comforting and distressing at the same time.
- biblequote 4y ago
- fcoury 4y agoIndeed. It's like we are always reinventing the wheel on a very cyclic manner. We go round and round to come back to the same abstractions. I had to Google the quote, but it goes like "those who don't learn from the past are bound to repeat it". I am not sure if there's a way around it or some level or repetition is obligatory for things to move forward. Maybe it's like the saying that you can't really give out advice to someone, because your advice also comes with all your previous baggage. But on the other hand, that's how we learn and transmit our knowledge across generations right? I think there's some sort of true in all those "feelings" but we also can't deny there are also incremental change that persist over time... Hard to say.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- RedShift1 4y agoMissed opportunity to leave us a typo to point out.
- ncmncm 4y agoTouch screens could not take off until coatings that repelled fingerprints were invented. The iPhone could not have succeeded without.
- keyle 4y agoThe one comparing book costs to software, and calling the industry thieves and pirates for charging exorbitant amounts of software had me laugh... Then I saw the price of the software advertised, like compilers and such, and I whole heartily agree with that guy!
- bornfreddy 4y agoTo be fair, the market was much smaller and the cost of hardware much higher, so I'm guessing the profits weren't exactly through the roof.