Re: Cocoa et al as HCI usability problem
Re: Cocoa et al as HCI usability problem
- Subject: Re: Cocoa et al as HCI usability problem
- From: Torsten Curdt <email@hidden>
- Date: Wed, 21 May 2008 10:31:39 +0200
First off: all well said! +1
...a few comments though. (Will this thread ever gonna stop? ;) )
First, how much are you paying for the documentation? How much did
you pay for the IDE? I mean, I'd love everything to be perfect for
everybody, but let's be realistic here. Apple doesn't derive any
direct income from the documentation or from Xcode, and as much as
we might think that shouldn't matter, Apple's a corporation, so it's
going to matter. That's reality, and it's not going to change.
Resources are limited, and considering the resources that are
available for API documentation, I think they do a phenomenal job,
and I honestly hate that some of the comments in this thread could
be read as disparaging their work, even if unintentionally.
Well, they are free to open source XCode and have other people help.
Look at Eclipse.
Paying for documentation is a weird thought though. Apple should be
happy to attract developers to have the platform flourish. That's an
investment you have to make if you want to be the controlling entity
of an operating system.
I think even for the documentation user generated content could be a
good way to "spice it up". This worked very well for PHP for example.
It would be valuable feedback for the tech writers. Just submitting
bugs to the documentation is not the same. We are entering the age of
user generated content. Let's not miss the boat here. Cocoadev is
great - but too separate.
Thirdly, who is the target audience for the documentation. ... This
recent influx of new coders is quite a sudden change to the
demographic. Apple can't be expected to adjust to that change
instantaneously. I don't think it's even completely clear yet who's
coming to the platform right now and why.
Totally agree. But just looking at the thread (and the popularity of
the platforms) I would guess many people will have either a C# or Java
background.
To the extent that people are trying to give feedback to Apple so
they know how best to proceed with future revisions to the
documentation, I think this discussion is valuable, but at times we
veer dangerously close to a pissing match mentality, and when that
happens, I don't think it's productive (even when it's me doing
it :) )
It sometimes has come very close ...but I am still surprised how well
it went in general. Pat on the back to everyone. Such threads are a
breeding ground for flames.
Now, if you're having a hard time with the documentation, and the
third party books aren't closing the gap for you, maybe you should
consider something like the classes at the Big Nerd Ranch, where you
can get direct feedback and answers from people who do have the big
picture and can work with you to help you get it too. It's probably
the fastest way to get over the hump. Though this list is
tremendously helpful, it's really better for answering concrete
technical questions than theoretical or conceptual ones, which
rarely yield the answer you're looking for, and often lead to long-
winded discussions like this one ;)
I think face-to-face is an important part to overcome the obstacles.
And this will become easier the more popular it gets.
cheers
--
Torsten
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