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KISS
andyring writes "CNN has an interesting article about the increasing trend in electronics to add more and more features, less concise user manuals, and poor marketing, to products, which end up doing nothing more than increasing costs and frustrating users. As an example in the article, most people want cell phones that do one thing - make calls. Yet phones come with games, instant messaging, cameras, etc. You can't even buy a simple cell phone any more. Also cited, 25% of people think they own an HDTV, when the actual number is less than 10%. What can be done to make manufacturers get their heads into the real world?"
(Damn, I've been waiting forever for a flimsy excuse to link to that page.)
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
I can see that the author doesn't use emacs.
I don't own a cell phone. People tell me it's because I don't have any friends. Oh well.
What can be done to make manufacturers get their heads into the real world?
Have they visited their proctologists lately?
Yes, because open-source projects are known for their ability to avoid needless feature creep and maintain clear, useful, high-quality documentation.
This space intentionally left blank.
Notice to the design team:
Do not add unnecessary features, or we will send Gene Simmons to live in your cubicles for a year.
-The Management
That's "Mr. Soulless Automaton" to you, Bub.
Or maybe I am just a jaded IT guy?
Maybe jaded against the particular hardware you work with. We have failures among our ~300 PCs every so often, hard disks mainly. The Sun, SGI and (sole) HP machine are damn tanks. When Sol goes red giant in 3 billion years, there will be 4 SGI Origins floating around in space wondering where users went.
Trolling is a art,
Sometimes they don't have a choice. At least when it comes to features they don't want. Recently I went to get a new cell phone, and I found out that all Best Buy and my service provider offer are phones piled high with "features." My only requirement was that it gets decent reception, and it's a flip phone (so I don't scratch the screen to hell when I put it in my pocket with my keys), and the only phones that met this description are $250 phones with color and cameras. I don't really care about these features, (I already have a digital camera), to me, it's just more stuff to break.
And you call yourself a nerd!
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
Pet rocks came with a manual.
My pet rock did not come with a manual. I'm still trying to fiigure out how to feed the damn thing.
Rule of thumb:
If it requires a manual, then it is too complicated for consumer sale.
And every time you make something more idiot proof, you improve the quality of idiots.
When my Dad's PC crapped out (he gets my old systems), my step-mom went on a drunken rampage and screamed about how "they should call Dell" because "she just wants a computer that works." She went on to explain that "the screen works fine. The printer is OK. Nothing wrong with the mouse and the keyboard, so we can just get a new box-thing."
I happily encouraged them to go with Dell since that meant I would be parolled from my unending troubleshooting hell. Little did I know it only meant I would get to troubleshoot WITH Dell now.
Long-story-short: I moved out of state.
Come and see the violence inherent in the system!
I had to have my pet rock put to sleep after it kept attacking people. Most people didn't believe me when I told them I didn't throw it, it jumped out of my hand.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one the bus load of girls just went down.
I have an HDTV. It's a nice 63cm Philips, says "HDTV" at the front. About ten years old by now.
Nothing to do with the new standard, but I can see why more people than expected say they have one.
KISS ?
:-)
Anyone else finds it atleast a bit amusing that someone can make a long post filled with nums and figures about an article that discusses the KISS principle ?
Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.
Aristotele
User interfaces should be well-designed and as simple to use as possible. Granted.
Yes, sell us a nipple! Most intuitive interface ever!
That little touch pad on the iPod's are pretty damn close. BUT NOT CLOSE ENOUGH!!
WE WANT NIPPLES!
Here I am at College, and I find a cellphone, all by itself, left in the bushes behind a little concrete edge often used as a bench. Looks like an expensive little bugger. I retrieve it. Maybe I could call its owner or maybe some of their friends and let their caller ID tell them whose calling, then maybe one of them can help me return it to its rightful owner. Guess what, I get the darned thing turned on, lots of buttons, each does something, but I will be darned if I can get the phone to make a call. I accessed some sort of clock, some scheduler, probably reset a helluva lot of stuff just trying to get back, I could not get the thing back off, and all I could think of is how fast I am draining the tiny thing's batteries with all those display lights flashing all over the keyboard.
I know once I drain its little battery, I have lost all chance of using it to help me find its owner, as it has nonstandard cells, and I have no way of routing the proper power to the phone's charging connector. Yes, I have top-flight power supplies in the lab which will power damn near anything, but lacking knowledge of what voltage and polarity the phone needs, any attempt to power the phone through the lab supply is apt to be fatal.
I did not wanna take it to lost and found, as once the phone passes through too many hands, it might stay lost forever. That was my attempt of last resort.
Never got a call out. But in a few minutes, the thing started buzzing. Ok, someone's calling me, can I even get on the line. They called me three times before I successfully got voice link. It was the owner, calling from a friend's phone. She was still at the college, frantically searching for her phone.
Man, I felt dumb.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
I think if you use duct tape you are a redneck, if you solder it your a nerd.
I see you have clearly never worked in techsupport at a university. :)
If you open yourself to the foo, You and foo become one.