McNeill follows up UI Interface editorial w/ interview w/ Jef Raskin

If they had they're way, we'd all be driving grey cars with the steering wheel on the left, the shift exactly
on the right, the wiper blade buttons exactly 45 degrees to the left and above the steering wheel, the speedometer
should look and be positioned exatly so, and so on all for the sake that anyone can hop into any car and be on their way in 0 seconds flat and feel totally comfortable.
(And if you have problems with that car design, then hey I guess you're out of luck, so suck it up for the greater good). I guess one size DOES fit all.

So we're supposed to place our GUIs in the hands of the high priests to design the proper Grand Unified GUI (both functionality-wise and aesthetics).
They then point out that the perfect GUI does not exist. But customization is frowned upon. So basically we're damned if we do and damned if we don't.

While I understand what they're getting at about consistency and standardization, especially in a corporate environment, they fail to consider the indivdual in this whole equation. What's good for me is not necessarily good for you. As we use computers more and more they become a reflection of us, just as our choice in cars, homes, and home furnishings are.

BTW, forgot to mention there's a good discussion about this going on at Slashdot:
http://slashdot.org/articles/02/03/02/025238.shtml?tid=152

"I strongly encourage everybody to leave all the settings at the default, or if somebody makes a strong case (strong does not mean "I like it") for a particular change, we all make it. That way we can move from machine to machine without going berserk or even feeling a little ill at ease."


You will be assimilated.

I wonder if he strongly encourages everyone in his "group" to wear the same clothes by the same maker and drive the same cars that are the same color. Just in case they need to drive somewhere together.

Oh my God, the sheer idiocy of those two maroons. I'm sorry, I know that was childish, but I can't bring myself to write a counter-argument to such a creatively bankrupt philosophy.

Hey, why don't we force Microsoft, Apple, Be, Sun, and the Linux devs to agree on a single UI for ALL operating systems to use? I mean, you wouldn't want to have to suffer when you switch from a Wintel box to a Mac and the buttons are on the "wrong" side, right?

How is it possible for McNeill to OWN AND OPERATE a graphics design outfit and be so close-minded about GUI customization????

Pretty funny stuff actually. One has to wonder when the last time Raskin actually used a modern computer.

He does correctly point out that skinning is an extension of preferences. Oddly, he doesn't argue that we should eliminate user preferences.

If I released a 1st person shooter, for instance, in which I could not remap the keys, it would get panned and fail in the market. Yet according to the UI fascists, such preferences must be avoided because someone else may get confused.

I think he's been using a Mac a little too long. My wife and I share the machine I'm typing. Her desktop is completely different. Why? We have a concept known as logons. He should try them.

This has got to be someone's elaborate practical joke. If not, I wonder if his kids are clones? That might make him more comfortable but it would sure take the fun out of it.

This just serves to reiterate McNeil's lack of understanding for modern computer systems and the needs of users. Raskin is merely participating because it's huge publicity for a largely washed out "authority" on such things, and may actually help him sell a book for the first time in years.

I have to agree with AJ completely here. I can't help but think that these guys are trapped in 1984 still.

They provide no evidence to back up their assertions that skinning is "bad" or decreases productivity.

The theory is right, the solutions is not. Theory is that if multile people work on multiple machines, a consistent interface will increase productivity. Their solutions is way off though. Skinning is about personalisation by nature, so instantly nullifies the entire argument.

Just like last time.

I sweer something is inserting and removing random characters in my posts.