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Modes, Quasimodes and the iPhone

5 points by access_denied 17y ago

timmorgan 17y ago
This article does not talk about Vi vs. Emacs. Is the title editorializing?
- access_denied 17y ago
  Yes it is on purpose. The idea is to think about the more general theme of editing modes, not the discussion about the iPhone the article narrows the topic to.
  - knome 17y ago
    You cite a piece detailing how the use of unseen modes makes interacting with a computer difficult and infer this as a boon to a strongly moded editor that offers nothing resembling the sort of modeless simplicity the author was advocating. The saving grace given in the article for modes was that they be evident and easily disabled and that they be fully under the control of the user to toggle on and off. Emacs modes come closer to this than vi. When you type it enters text at the cursor. All special modes are entered via holding key chords. Modes which are not done at the end of the chord are generally recorded in the status line so it is evident they are active. At any rate, the piece, having nothing to do with this traditional browser debate, though of token interest in itself was slighted by your title used to link it.
  - amackera 17y ago
    I get that your title is sort of a joke (I hope), but if you just go by this article then it seems to me that it's suggesting that Emacs is more "usable" than vi! Emacs uses quasi-modes like crazy. Maybe I didn't understand.
padmanabhan01 17y ago
From the article "Modes are not always bad. (1)Modes cause issues if they make computers behave in unexpected ways. However, if the modes themselves are obvious to the user, (2)if it is always clear how to exit the current mode, and (3)if the modes interfere with as few of the user’s actions as possible, these issues disappear." VI screws up in all of this (1) (2) and (3).
- hvs 17y ago
  I agree with this, but I would also say that Emacs "modes" are equally confusing, and much more widespread.
leecho0 17y ago
In general, people like emacs for its programming environment and vim for its ease of use after familiarity. So... the title's a bit misleading?
access_denied 17y ago
If quasimodes are a hindrance to usability, than Emacs is full of these, but I never thought of them that way. Maybe it is different on the desktop an Vi is the perfect editor for the iPhone?
redorb 17y ago
A better title would have been 'On the iphone, VI has better usability than Emacs' cause the iphone by itself can't really prove usability on anything other than itself. Apples and Oranges.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]

5 points by access_denied 17y ago

timmorgan 17y ago

This article does not talk about Vi vs. Emacs. Is the title editorializing?

access_denied 17y ago
Yes it is on purpose. The idea is to think about the more general theme of editing modes, not the discussion about the iPhone the article narrows the topic to.
- knome 17y ago
  You cite a piece detailing how the use of unseen modes makes interacting with a computer difficult and infer this as a boon to a strongly moded editor that offers nothing resembling the sort of modeless simplicity the author was advocating. The saving grace given in the article for modes was that they be evident and easily disabled and that they be fully under the control of the user to toggle on and off. Emacs modes come closer to this than vi. When you type it enters text at the cursor. All special modes are entered via holding key chords. Modes which are not done at the end of the chord are generally recorded in the status line so it is evident they are active. At any rate, the piece, having nothing to do with this traditional browser debate, though of token interest in itself was slighted by your title used to link it.
- amackera 17y ago
  I get that your title is sort of a joke (I hope), but if you just go by this article then it seems to me that it's suggesting that Emacs is more "usable" than vi! Emacs uses quasi-modes like crazy. Maybe I didn't understand.

padmanabhan01 17y ago

From the article "Modes are not always bad. (1)Modes cause issues if they make computers behave in unexpected ways. However, if the modes themselves are obvious to the user, (2)if it is always clear how to exit the current mode, and (3)if the modes interfere with as few of the user’s actions as possible, these issues disappear." VI screws up in all of this (1) (2) and (3).

hvs 17y ago
I agree with this, but I would also say that Emacs "modes" are equally confusing, and much more widespread.

leecho0 17y ago

In general, people like emacs for its programming environment and vim for its ease of use after familiarity. So... the title's a bit misleading?

access_denied 17y ago

If quasimodes are a hindrance to usability, than Emacs is full of these, but I never thought of them that way. Maybe it is different on the desktop an Vi is the perfect editor for the iPhone?

redorb 17y ago

A better title would have been 'On the iphone, VI has better usability than Emacs' cause the iphone by itself can't really prove usability on anything other than itself. Apples and Oranges.

deleted 17y ago

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