Re: Small Problem vs Tip of Iceberg
Re: Small Problem vs Tip of Iceberg
- Subject: Re: Small Problem vs Tip of Iceberg
- From: Alex Zavatone <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 12:03:31 -0400
On Jul 19, 2013, at 11:37 AM, Luther Fuller wrote:
> Subject: Re: Get list of desktops? On Jul 19, 2013, at 9:27 AM, Alex Zavatone wrote:
>
>> To date, we lost:
>
> [A list of 18 complaints]
>
>> So, I beg to differ with you that there are benefits in the new versions of the Mac OS and many products. Apple is destroying the computer we loved to use. The last two releases have shown that more time has been spent putting in useless animated effects - that we can't turn off - than making the Mac OS a usable and fast system. And if I could talk about the latest one, if I knew anything about it, I would suspect more of the same, or even much worse.
>
> This reminded me of how I learned the difference between a small problem and the tip of an iceberg.
>
> Once upon a time, long, long ago (in 1965), when I was in the US Army, I was assigned to travel to a NATO artillery unit to participate in a scheduled maintenance test on the pointy end of a large missile. As the test began, they could not find a necessary tool that should have been instantly available. After a half-hour delay, they found the tool and the test was completed.
>
> This seemed to me to be a small problem, but other events during the test made me suspicious that there might be more to this problem. It couldn't hurt, so I reported the problem.
>
> Two weeks later, I learned that high ranking commanders had been relieved from duty.
>
> I have complained here, after every Mountain Lion update, that AppleScript's 'launch' command has not yet been fixed.
> I know it's just a small problem, but I can't help but wonder if it's the tip of an iceberg.
> After reading Alex's list of complaints, I am beginning to strongly favor the "tip of the iceberg" conclusion.
>
> The difference between a small problem and the tip of an iceberg is … small.
Thanks for your observation on this Luther. I've been using the Mac since 1985 since I didn't "get this GUI thing" back in 1984.
I've written to Schiller and Jobs about 2 years ago, outlining my list of issues and all that did was get me on a defective beta program of people who felt they were special for being on that program.
The sad fact is that there are directors and vice presidents who think this all is a good idea!
I was just in Xcode and looking for more information on UIFont, so I option clicked on the class to get more info. Does a nice little window open promptly for me?
No. It pops open like UIAlertViews (alerts) do on iOS. Sort of like the old Pop Up Videos text bubbles on VH1 from last century. Can you turn off this "popping" behaviour? No.
I need to hide a panel in Xcode - or open one. I press command 0, or command 1, or command option 0, or command 0 1. The panel slides in or slides out. Can I get this information instantly? No. I must watch the sliding animation.
See, the big problems here are that both actions imply that the user wants the results instantly and the user is a developer, whose time is valuable and there is no off switch for these behaviours and the uses pressed command keys implying that they want this information as fast as possible. There is no "display this as fast as you can and don't make me wait" setting.
What is worse is that the Director of the Xcode development team thought that this was a good idea.
Don't get me started with the animating in and out of the storyboard while zooming.
Why are they trying to entertain the developers with animation and do not realize that our TIME is what is most valuable, when using Xcode?
This clearly shows that high level decision makers at Apple have clearly lost the focus on creating an OS that "just works" and one that doesn't waste our time.
The removal of command control 1, 2, 3, etc… in the Finder and replacing it with - no functional equivalent - IS NOT AN IMPROVEMENT.
We all have loads of work to do. We EXPECT MORE from Apple. We do not have the time to tell them how to design their UI.
I recently reported to Apple that we need an NSUserDefaults (defaults write) command to disable the NSOutlineView animation of expanding and collapsing of folders.
In the bug report, they replied something to the effect of "you do know this is a declared standard across the system, right"?
I was baffled for a minute and then thought clearly, "you can declare a terrible convention as a standard but that doesn't make it a good idea".
What is more telling is that in the creation and development of this standard, they did not see fit to give us an OFF SWITCH for it.
Apple is SUPPOSED TO KNOW HOW TO CREATE THESE INTERFACES! They are supposed to know WHY things are good ideas and bad ideas (Look at the mere difference from iOS 6 to iOS 7 in the published images and tell me that is a good idea).
I've been in this since day 2. Before that I was an Apple II user and young programmer. Back in the day, I helped in the creation of Macromedia Director and was an important part of the first few Shockwave teams. Later on, I helped design and build FiOS TV for Verizon from the ground up and filed 9 patents in the process. I've been in the industry for a long time (not as long as Luther though), have helped build products that millions of people use, even been one of the senior staff on those efforts. TL; DR: I'm qualified to have this opinion. If Apple keeps going the way they are going with regards to user interfaces, I'm simply making my money and getting out, because I simply will not want to use their products. 1. because they are ugly and 2. because they do not help me do my job better than an OS from 2-3 years ago.
And that, that's simply effing sad.
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