| From: | Anthony W. Prime |
| Date: | 8 Sep 2000 at 10:10:53 |
| Subject: | Re: Oh No not linux |
Hi Gerry
> >> Yes they can use them, but when something goes wrong they have no
> >> idea how to fix it. A lot of people these days learn to use
> >> computers in terms of "click here to run this". If it doesn't work,
> >> or if for some reason something has moved, they lose the ability to
> >> use the computer.
> > Like you don't need to know how a combustion engine exactly works to
> > drive a car, you don't need to know how an OS works to use a
> > computer. The more you know, the more problems you can solve
> > yourself, but it's impossible to be an expert on everything.
> Okay, I'm not disputing this. My point seems to have become slightly
> diluted along the way. All I was trying to say is that I think Windows
> is a bad system for learning to use computers, because people who use
> it tend not to gain an understanding of what they're actually doing.
> Instead they just do things by rote.
> I also said that perhaps it just seems this way because of the large
> number of computer illiterate people using Windows. But I'm not
> entirely convinced this is the case...
If you follow this analogy further I think it makes rather a lot of sense.
>From the 1930s car owners were enthusiasts who had to learn abou the things
to keep them going (say 1980s), in the 60s cars became a little more
reliable but needed extensive servicing to keep them in top shape (say now)
and then in the 70s the Japanese decided to make cheap efficient cars that
didn`t break down. Now quality and reliability are the entry point to the
market (it`s difficult to buy a car that`s downright bad these days). And
that would seem to be our future. In terms of doing things by wrote, how
many drivers of older cars try to start them in damp weather by blasting the
engine bay with WD40? It doesn`t solve the problem, only the symptom.
Now I`m not saying the AmigaOE or anything else currently in developement
will be the equivalent of Honda and Toyota in the 1970s because I`m not
convinced they will. However, someone will eventually take the bull by the
horns and develop an easy to use stable efficient platform, and once one has
done it the other players will be forced to improve or they will perish (UK
Motorcycle industry anyone?). It`s inconceivable that the web enabled fridge
could suffer whatever the white goods equivalent of the "Blue screen of
death" will be, and likewise you shouldn`t need to understand Java to order
a new jar of Coffee (sorry :)
So in summary, if the idea of the information appliance is to come to pass,
users shouldn`t need to know how to tinker under the bonnet, unless they
really want to, in the same way a home mechanic can do his/her own
servicing. But to really make progress, the user shouldn`t have to have any
more knowledge than (to follow the analogy) they would require for a driving
test, and if this combination seems to be a tall order, consider the service
intervals for cars, which were once 3000 miles, and now are typically
12-20000. Progress is there to be made, and it will be made if we refuse to
accept substandard product as "just the way things are".
Rant over. Thanks for listening
http://www.amiga.com So the world may know...
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