Newsgroups: comp.editors
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From: torek@elf.ee.lbl.gov (Chris Torek)
Subject: Re: What do writers want from a word processor?
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley
References: <FRANCIS.91Apr16204241@daisy.zaphod.uchicago.edu> <1991Apr22.145525.10150@njitgw.njit.edu> <3097@wn1.sci.kun.nl> <1991Apr30.205205.6328@njitgw.njit.edu>
Message-ID: <12686@dog.ee.lbl.gov>
X-Local-Date: Wed, 1 May 91 11:48:06 PDT
Reply-To: torek@elf.ee.lbl.gov (Chris Torek)
Date: Wed, 1 May 91 18:48:06 GMT

In article <1991Apr30.205205.6328@njitgw.njit.edu> ken@hertz.njit.edu
(ken ng cccc) writes:
>Oh, and there is one *BIG* peeve I've had more and more in recent years:
>Making the application "pretty" as opposed to functional.

[Rolodex emulator example, in which the rolodex model was used
inappropriately, going so far as to restrict you to what a real rolodex
can do, deleted.]

Actually (though this has nothing to do with editors) this is a
perfectly natural effect, and you can expect it to continue to apply
for some time.  (This is not to say you should approve, or even stand
quietly by.  Your reactions are up to you.)

Whenever a new technology comes into existence, people spend an
enormous amount of effort on making it look like previous technologies,
with ridiculous (and often hilarious) results.  It takes time, and
often the retirement of those with inflexible minds, for the technology
to acquire its own `natural' model.  (Some would use the word
`paradigm' here, but `paradigm' means `example': in particular, an
example that is used to illustrate the underlying model.)

For a long time automobiles were considered `horseless carriages' and
much effort was put into making them look and act like carriages-
without-horses.

If someone had been able to figure out how to `blow out' electric
lights, you would have had to pick up the chimney on your lamp, rather
than turn the switch.

The standard answer on picking up the telephone was once `Ahoy'.
(People thought of telephones as speaking tubes, like those found on
ships.)

It all boils down to the fact that using an existing object as a
reference model makes it easier to `think about' the new technology,
but it also acts as a trap: it keeps people from considering
alternatives.
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Lawrence Berkeley Lab CSE/EE (+1 415 486 5427)
Berkeley, CA		Domain:	torek@ee.lbl.gov
