Actually, you're partially right. We have an extremely effective neural interface. It's not just the hands, but the sense of touch in the hands, our senses of vision and hearing, and the large portions of our brains dedicated to processing all these senses, and the large portions of our brains and nervous system dedicated to responding to all these senses.
Other than for therapuetic and disability uses, interfaces that try to bypass our senses are sheer fantasy, unless the developers plan on relying on a few hundred thousand years of evolution for the brain to create new senses to interface with their devices. Even then, our current senses will be a few hundred million years more advanced.
Most people know when something is user-friendly and thus easy to use and when something is not.
Hmmm. Do most people know that citations that begin with "most people know" are usually fallacies (an appeal of popularity)?;)
Usability is the measure of the quality of a user's experience...
Yes, but the means of measurement is not just assuming that most people know when it's user-friendly.
Programmable automata existed long before
on
The Real da Vinci Code
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Heron of Alexandria created numerous automata, some programmable, some 1400 years earlier. Da Vinci was familiar with translations of Heron's works, and even tried to recreate some of Heron's machines.
The principles of putting people first, and designing from the interface to the software and hardware, are as vital today as they were then.
Ok. But what does that mean? He gives no examples of proper interfaces, nor does he explain why OS X fails to achieve the "People first" status.
And that's the crux of it. People promote "principles" but developers and designers need to know how to assess and improve the interface. "Hire me and I'll do it" or "Buy my book" aren't solutions to this problem.
I'm no longer current on the research on pointing and control devices, and I don't recall reading any of Gorodnichy's papers, so for what it's worth:
This approach, at it's best, could work as a secondary pointing and control device. I primary device requires a very high degree of control. The hands and fingers are excellent for manipulating a primary device because they are very good at precise, controlled movement and manipulation of other objects through tactile feedback alone and especially well in coordination with vision.
The nose and eyelids, in contrast, are not capable of such movement and coordination. People don't have the necessary muscular control and coordination in their neck and facial muscles.
The human body does have some alternatives to the hands that can be good alternatives to those who cannot use their hands and fingers: feet, toes, tongue, and breath are the most promising.
The results of the "No Child Left Behind" program are obvious to anyone in education: The majority of the time and money is spent on those students who either value education the least (different cultures value education very differently) or have severe language and/or learning difficulties.
"No Child Left Behind" = the bar has been lowered to the point where most can get by. It ensures everyone gets an education just good enough for employment in the fast food industry. If you want your child to have other employment options, find other education options for them.
The analogy doesn't hold. A better one would be many computers communicating with each other through various means: some tightly coupled together, others communicating only through intermediaries. Each computer has its limits. Also, for the majority of the computers, it's very difficult if not impossible to judge if they are being used close to their limits.
The human body does many things at the same time all the time because most of what we do is autonomous (breathing, circulating blood, digesting food, temperature regulation, etc).
Even for conscious efforts, we can easily multitask when the activities use different parts of the brain and body AND no more than one of them require very much of our attention. The article's example of walking and listening to music. While hearing is used for both activities, neither requires much attention when you are familiar with where you are walking and with the music.
The more that the same part of the body or brain is required for tasks we try to do at the same time, the harder it is to multitask between them.
Make sure you are covered by an insurance policy, lock your door, backup daily (or at least every day you do something you dont want to lose), print out drafts regularly (care of the campus printers), and learn to dodge bikes.
While I always enjoy the IDSA awards, these are not awards that consider usability. These products are evaluated by simply having the judges examine the products and what the product creators say about how the products were made. To judge usability, you actually have to evaluate the product as used by the target audience. The judges do not do this, nor are the product creators required to.
we purchased holder of two rolls, side by side. We discovered that although we now had two rolls instead of one, the problem was not solved.
It's disturbing to see "The Guru of Workable Technology" was unable to identify a correct solution to the problem before he purchased and used the product...
Luckily the "guru" was eventually able to identify and correct the problem, then share the experience with us all! (Don't you think a "guru" would have better things to write about?)
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, you're partially right. We have an extremely effective neural interface. It's not just the hands, but the sense of touch in the hands, our senses of vision and hearing, and the large portions of our brains dedicated to processing all these senses, and the large portions of our brains and nervous system dedicated to responding to all these senses. Other than for therapuetic and disability uses, interfaces that try to bypass our senses are sheer fantasy, unless the developers plan on relying on a few hundred thousand years of evolution for the brain to create new senses to interface with their devices. Even then, our current senses will be a few hundred million years more advanced.
...so incredible that the intelligent design creationists must keep them secret for the good of humanity. "If the public hears how bad the fossil problem is, the sky will fall." http://redstaterabble.blogspot.com/2005/10/science -meets-grassy-knoll.html
A rea_School_District
Or just maybe they're all lying. Seems they forgot to offer any of these recent findings as evidence for the trial in Dover. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitzmiller_v._Dover_
Because the software prevents them from moving ;) Except when the software crashes first of course :(
Heron of Alexandria created numerous automata, some programmable, some 1400 years earlier. Da Vinci was familiar with translations of Heron's works, and even tried to recreate some of Heron's machines.
Lots of info and references here.
I'm no longer current on the research on pointing and control devices, and I don't recall reading any of Gorodnichy's papers, so for what it's worth:
This approach, at it's best, could work as a secondary pointing and control device. I primary device requires a very high degree of control. The hands and fingers are excellent for manipulating a primary device because they are very good at precise, controlled movement and manipulation of other objects through tactile feedback alone and especially well in coordination with vision.
The nose and eyelids, in contrast, are not capable of such movement and coordination. People don't have the necessary muscular control and coordination in their neck and facial muscles.
The human body does have some alternatives to the hands that can be good alternatives to those who cannot use their hands and fingers: feet, toes, tongue, and breath are the most promising.
No. I mean like supplementing your children's education, especially in mathematics, science, and critical thinking.
Keep their curiosity to learn alive by learning with them. Instead of reading to them, read with them, then discuss what you've read.
If you can afford it, consider private schools.
The results of the "No Child Left Behind" program are obvious to anyone in education: The majority of the time and money is spent on those students who either value education the least (different cultures value education very differently) or have severe language and/or learning difficulties.
"No Child Left Behind" = the bar has been lowered to the point where most can get by. It ensures everyone gets an education just good enough for employment in the fast food industry. If you want your child to have other employment options, find other education options for them.
The analogy doesn't hold. A better one would be many computers communicating with each other through various means: some tightly coupled together, others communicating only through intermediaries. Each computer has its limits. Also, for the majority of the computers, it's very difficult if not impossible to judge if they are being used close to their limits.
The human body does many things at the same time all the time because most of what we do is autonomous (breathing, circulating blood, digesting food, temperature regulation, etc).
Even for conscious efforts, we can easily multitask when the activities use different parts of the brain and body AND no more than one of them require very much of our attention. The article's example of walking and listening to music. While hearing is used for both activities, neither requires much attention when you are familiar with where you are walking and with the music.
The more that the same part of the body or brain is required for tasks we try to do at the same time, the harder it is to multitask between them.
Make sure you are covered by an insurance policy, lock your door, backup daily (or at least every day you do something you dont want to lose), print out drafts regularly (care of the campus printers), and learn to dodge bikes.
Maybe it's the cry of conspiricy with no follow-up? The circa 1996 Focus Fusion Society website certainly doesn't help either.
While I always enjoy the IDSA awards, these are not awards that consider usability. These products are evaluated by simply having the judges examine the products and what the product creators say about how the products were made. To judge usability, you actually have to evaluate the product as used by the target audience. The judges do not do this, nor are the product creators required to.
Or at least make people aware of Microsoft's hypocrisy (lies?). The EU still has their antitrust case pending...
;)
Maybe we should all whine and complain instead?
"every child is different."
;)
Not me
News.com has a slightly more detailed report: Web marketing sells like teen spirit
The executive summary from Yahoo is available (1MB PDF): Born To Be Wired Executive Summary, accessible from Born To Be Wired
we purchased holder of two rolls, side by side. We discovered that although we now had two rolls instead of one, the problem was not solved.
It's disturbing to see "The Guru of Workable Technology" was unable to identify a correct solution to the problem before he purchased and used the product...
Luckily the "guru" was eventually able to identify and correct the problem, then share the experience with us all! (Don't you think a "guru" would have better things to write about?)
Not a Sop to Drink (February 6, 2001)
Water - the myth of 8 glasses (February 13, 2001)
How much water do we really need? (May 24, 2002)