Software should "Just Work" and users _are_ just too lazy.
I'm of the mind that any reasonably complex application should have more than one use mode: "Quick Mode" (read:idiot mode) and "Advanced Mode". In "quick mode", things are one-click, there are a tiny handful of available buttons/operations, and simple tasks can be performed quickly and near-automatically, whereas in "advanced mode" you can tweak every little setting to your heart's desire. Most applications seem to lean toward one end or another, lack the ability to cater both to noobs/nontechnical AND expert users. A good example of this would be many of the "Express" vs. "Full" versions of software (i.e. Nero). If a single app could run in both modes it would go a long way toward providing a user-appropriate interface.
With any luck, within 5-10 years developer tools will have evolved to the point where a reasonably skilled programmer can rewrite, test, debug, and release any application that was written in COBOL in half the time it would take to maintain it. We all know by now that writing code is far easier than maintaining it.
COBOL seriously needs to disappear. What ever happened to Darwinian evolution? Must not apply to computer languages...
Right now Microsoft probably knows what a disaster Vista is going to be and how slow most users and companies will be to adopt it. Anyone who has been paying attention to the developing saga/disaster that is the next Microsoft OS is likely convinced that nothing would do more to increase use of Linux than the release of Vista. So, it would seem this is all part of a nefarious plot to destroy Linux, which they obviously perceive as their biggest threat. What better way to destroy something than from the inside?
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If I'm in a position where I can telecommute I'm already at the top of the food chain.
Software should "Just Work" and users _are_ just too lazy.
I'm of the mind that any reasonably complex application should have more than one use mode: "Quick Mode" (read:idiot mode) and "Advanced Mode". In "quick mode", things are one-click, there are a tiny handful of available buttons/operations, and simple tasks can be performed quickly and near-automatically, whereas in "advanced mode" you can tweak every little setting to your heart's desire. Most applications seem to lean toward one end or another, lack the ability to cater both to noobs/nontechnical AND expert users. A good example of this would be many of the "Express" vs. "Full" versions of software (i.e. Nero). If a single app could run in both modes it would go a long way toward providing a user-appropriate interface.
COBOL seriously needs to disappear. What ever happened to Darwinian evolution? Must not apply to computer languages...
... I'd rather write Pascal (UGH! So disgusting!)
Right now Microsoft probably knows what a disaster Vista is going to be and how slow most users and companies will be to adopt it. Anyone who has been paying attention to the developing saga/disaster that is the next Microsoft OS is likely convinced that nothing would do more to increase use of Linux than the release of Vista. So, it would seem this is all part of a nefarious plot to destroy Linux, which they obviously perceive as their biggest threat. What better way to destroy something than from the inside?
...as is southeast Michigan.
Thanks to a backup generator the servers are up and I'm posting on Slashdot. Yay disaster preparation!