His answers to the follow up questions should satisfy your curiosity. I think we're all familiar with confusing products, particularly in the web arena. As Reeves and Nass demonstrated so well in the fascinating book ' The Media Equation ', we interact socially with computers. To some extent, we react to them in the same way as we do to humans. It follows that if a computer behaves in a way we could consider rude in a human, we will also consider it rude in a computer.
Rude behaviour is often most evident in error messages.
I told you - no blanks' if the user attempted to use the space bar twice in an entry field which didn't allow blank characters. Products that go beyond rudeness can belittle us if they actively diminish our standing in the community or in our own eyes. I was surprised to come across a real-world example of this in the form of an ATM that displays a large cartoon character with empty pockets if you have insufficient funds to make a cash withdrawal. In a restaurant, good service is epitomised by a the waiter who is constantly available, never interrupts unnecessarily, and provides helpful, knowledgeable and useful advice when required. Sounds like a job description for a good interface.