From: jonke@kong.gsfc.nasa.gov (Stephen Jonke)
Subject: Re: GUIs Considered Harmful
Organization: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 92 17:50:24 GMT

In article <1992Sep6.145944.5828@news.eng.convex.com>, Tom Christiansen <tchrist@convex.COM> writes:
> 
> :Oh, the subjects were just basically incompetent in general.  If it
> :takes as long as *one* second to decide which key to press, I consider
> :myself "idling".  I type well over 100wpm when I don't have to stop and
> :decide what I want to type next.  
> 
> Indeed.
> 
> I've got vi in my wetware now.  I don't *ever* think about switching modes
> or backspacing.  In fact, I often make a mistake and without looking at
> the screen, automatically ^H or ^W to do the correction.  In the case of a
> slow link, I can get quite a few editing commands in front of what's going
> on in the screen, but that's ok.  I've got a mental model of what I'm
> typing, and don't even need the characters on the screen to know that my
> fingers have done the wrong thing.  It's all subsumed: what once required
> thought now goes incredibly fast.  When you're in that kind of a
> high-speed mode, moving to the mouse and back *does* slow you down.
> 

The problem with this argument is that while if you continue to use the
same programs over and over and over and keep up with it, you will go
into "automatic", if you let it lie for some time, you soon forget a lot
of it, except for some very basic core stuff (I can get around VI, even
though I rarely use it, but doing anything other then the most basic
stuff involves key combinations I don't remember and they are not easy
to find out again -- not only that, but this is exactly the type of thing
I don't want to have to find out.  It just gets in the way of what I'm
really trying to accomplish.

More importantly, though, this type of program that requires long periods
of learning time creates another problem -- stagnation.  It makes people
not want to change with the times.  On the Macintosh, I never worry about
switching to the latest word processor or graphics program, or whatever,
because I know that the learning time is so short and effortless and I
can quickly get on with the work at hand.

The other thing (and maybe this is even more important) is that although
you can pick and choose situations in which an entirely keyboard based
application will be "faster", you are looking at very miniscule cases.  I
have found that even though I can type reasonably fast (wpm = ????) I am
none the less FASTER at getting tasks done on the Macintosh then I am at
getting them done on keyboard based apps, in an overall sense.  When you
look at the process as a whole, it is not simply typing in and correcting
minor mistakes along the way (and, incidentally, doing that kind of stuff
is just as "automatic" and fast anyway), unless, of course, you are a bad
writer or a super-being program writer that writes stuff which works
perfectly the first time, every time.  Then there's the fact that mouse
based apps tend to be less error prone for the user.  The fewer errors
that occur, the fewer errors that need to be corrected and the less time
wasted.

It really goes well beyond the individual application level anyway.  The
Macintosh is an "environment", not just a machine which runs programs.
The environment is more efficient as well, allowing me to get everything
done in a much more efficient way.  Everything from installing applications
and extensions to the OS to opening a file or changing its name.  Apple has
had a set of excellent user interface guidlines from very early on which helps
to make applications more consistent.  The environment also helps avoid
stagnation because of the ease of installing extensions and apps, etc.  The
fact that Apple gives away upgrades to the system for free doesn't hurt
either (you can buy it with manuals or FTP or copy it from your dealer or
another person for free legally and I've yet to need a manual for any
system upgrade.)

I can not make any claims for or against Windows, as I haven't extensively
used it.  But I will say that in my limited exposure to it, it doesn't seem
very good in comparison to the Mac.  So if your only exposure to a window
environment is Windows (or X-Windows for that matter), I'd suggest that you
try out a Mac for month or two.  You may be very suprised (I was -- I was a
Mac/mouse hater until I got the chance to actually use one for an extended
period of time.)

Steve
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x