Off: pop up killer software

[Paul Mather]

On Wed, Mar 17, 2004 at 10:16:41PM -0500, John Majka wrote:

=> I would have to agree with this sentiment.  There are lots of computer dorks
=> out there insisting on this or that browser, but you can only use those if
=> you have loads of computer knowledge--"user friendly" isn't something
=> considered in the least by these applications, which is exactly why they are
=> marginalized and used only by those more or less in the computer field...
=> few others can use or understand them.

I would respectfully suggest this is a myth fostered by a lack of
practical experience.  (Alternatively, would you care to name some of
these computer dork-endorsed browsers?)

For example, Mozilla is functionally identical to Netscape---a browser
that predates M$IE and was (and still is) used by many non-technical
people.  Firefox is functionally very similar to the WWW browser
aspect of Mozilla.  (It is basically just a different underlying
implementation.)  Opera is very easy to use, and very fast.  Some
non-M$IE browsers support additional concepts not found in M$IE, like
tabbed browsing.  But, it has been my direct experience that
non-technical users do not find such concepts innately difficult.  (In
fact, they welcome the features, in my experience.)

Most non-technical people do not maintain their own computer systems,
especially in the workplace.  So, "user friendliness" (if you mean it
to include installation, too) is a bit difficult to assess, because
someone else does the heavy lifting in ensuring the system continues
to run smoothly.  As an aside, kiosk and embedded applications can
have the dreaded "unusable" Unix behind them, putting paid to the de
facto myth that anything using Unix is not "user friendly."

User friendliness is affected hugely by ones prior knowledge.  In
other words, tasks will be easier if they map onto the way your brain
is already accustomed to doing them.  M$ committed a MAJOR usability
faux pas, for example, when they introduced the concept of menu hiding
in M$-Office, where least-recently used menu options are omitted from
a pull-down menu, and are only revealed if you wait long enough or
click on the chevrons at the bottom to reveal the entire menu.  This
approach (amongst other things) destroys spatial locality used by the
brain to locate menu options quickly, because they, um..., keep moving
about from where you remembered them to be.

So, M$IE will be "user friendly" (despite its lack of useful features)
if that is all you are used to (or what you are largely used to).
Similarly, if you are raised on Opera, it will be "user friendly" and
other browsers may seem strange and unnatural if you try and switch to
them after having used Opera for a long time.

A case in point is a non-technical friend I have who prefers to use
Netscape.  She had me put it on her machine at home and
(clandestinely) at work.  Why?  Because she finds it more "user
friendly" than M$IE.  Why?  Because she is "used" to Netscape.  Why?
I suspect because her use of WWW browsers predates the existence of
M$IE, and so she never developed the brain patterns for the M$IE way
of doing everything.  (She first started using the WWW with Mosaic
[remember that?], and then went onto Netscape and has used it ever
since.)

The thing she finds annoying is that she has to have M$IE on her
system, because things like Windows Update will only work with M$IE.
I keep having to remind her, "no, you can't get rid of it" every time
she asks me why it is still there.

Finally, you have to remember that, historically, M$IE copied a lot of
the functionality/user interface of other browsers like Netscape to
gain market share and acceptance.  So, to decry those other browsers
as not "user friendly" when they share a common usability lineage with
M$IE is a bit odd.  I guess I don't know, then, what you mean by the
term "user friendly."

In the end, the *real* reason M$IE is used by a lot of people is
because M$IE is used by a lot of people.

(Even Rich admitted that.)

Cheers,

Paul.

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production
 deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
        --- Frank Vincent Zappa