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The Weird History of the Microsoft Windows Start Button

Posted by samzenpus on from the and-that's-what-happened dept.

Gamoid writes: Windows 3.1 was so complicated that even a Boeing propulsion scientist couldn't figure out how to open a word processor. A behavioral scientist, who once worked with BF Skinner at Harvard, was brought in to Microsoft to figure out what was going wrong — and he came up with the Start button, for which he holds the patent today. It's a weird and cool look at how simple ideas aren't obvious.

4 of 270 comments (clear)

  1. Um excuse me? by fustakrakich · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What's that thing over there on the Mac's menu bar?

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  2. Prior art by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    RISC OS

  3. Re:Major change? No. by demonlapin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That was the true purpose of Solitaire and Minesweeper. They taught the differences between clicking, right-clicking, double-clicking, and click and drag.

  4. FORD by sycodon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I rented a Ford Focus. It has all these screens, keypads and shit.

    There was one very large button labeled Radio. I pressed it and nothing happened. Turns out that you had the press the much smaller button only labeled Vol to turn the radio on. Then there were these button on the center console, right in the middle and above the volume button. Unlabeled. Left to tune down, right to tun up...right? Nope. It control the "feature selection" on a screen on the dash. Tuning buttons were much smaller and in the upper right and only labeled with a left arrow and right arrow.

    Then I looked down by the shifter. There, was a placard that said, "Powered by Microsoft".

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.