The article discusses economies of scope, which is like using the same basic design of the 2004 Maxima to design the 2005 Maxima rather than starting from scratch
Well, _that_ is certainly news to me. I always thought I had to delete all my code, and purge my knowledge of software design, before I could start a new project!
Historically, the way to make things that people make better is to make them using methodologies derived from manufacturing. why is software not subject to the same rules?
Because making software is a design effort, not a manufacturing effort. Any attempts to understand or control the process as if it were a manufacturing process is doomed to failure.
We wanted to buy an AMD64 machine, because we needed to develop 64-bit software for a customer that specifically requires it. However, Dell didn't sell one. We looked at alternative machines, from such "unknown brands" as HP. Then last week I got an email from my manager, pointing to an Intel 64bit machine on the Dell website. The tone of the email was one of relief - at least now we could buy from a company that we _know_ makes slow overpriced garbage, with graphics cards that crap out in months, harddisks that run at
For the record, we are not a Dell preferred customer and pay list prices like every other sucker out there.
What a bunch of crap is that. In Half Life you at least have freedom to walk around as you want, look at the environment as you want, tackle problems in different ways, go back to earlier locations (you can go back to the big escalator from nearly halfway through the game!). And although the locations can only be visited in, effectively, on order, it gives a damn fine impression that you have absolute freedom.
By comparison, Dragons Lair requires you to press a single button during a very short interval to choose between death and life. It is just a series of binary choices, with no hope of variation, ever. The beautiful graphics tend to wow people, but once you play the game you quickly realize it isn't a game at all.
If you could just post your address and exact instructions as to which shelf I may be paying you a quiet visit later on...
Actually the last few years of my life were spent retiring two of these systems. They have been used until about three years ago to perform thermal vacuum tests on spacecraft by the European Space Agency. Since they were getting a bit long in the tooth, I was contracted to write a replacement system on modern hardware.
We discussed emulation at an early stage, but we realized quickly it would never be a solution since you cannot possibly emulate the incredible amount of IO channels the things have (dozens of serial ports, GPIB ports, etc.).
I once considered writing an emulator for the HP1000 - until I realized it is totally impossible to find documentation on the hardware. I guess that is a major problem for most of these old systems.
What I think may be going on is this: the green party may be attempting to show the effect patents have on Open Source, thereby influencing the political opinion of European decision makers on the subject of software patents. If the Munich project fails as a result of this, they will be able to go to the European Parliament and use it as pretty conclusive evidence that patents are bad for us, serving only the needs of foreign monopolies and destroying local companies.
If my theory is correct, it is an incredibly dangerous game they are playing. However, if it helps stop software patents in Europe it is worth it, even if it means losing Munich to Microsoft. It would be losing a battle to win the war.
What exactly do you call "render problems"? If you are referring to the left column slightly overlapping (by maybe five pixels) the main column, I get that in Mozilla too. However, it is not a major disaster that renders the site utterly useless (as you make it sound) - it is a minor irritation at best, and you can make it go away in any number of ways, such as changing text size or forcing a reload. Still, I hope the Mozilla people will fix it eventually...
One ray of hope is that Microsoft is a convicted monopolist. They may hold all the patents in the world, but any _overt_ action to take out a competitor (no matter if patents are involved or not) will quickly get them back into court.
Wow! You've just proven conclusively that all old games are bad!
Or maybe not... Yes, there was an unholy load of crap out there on the old 8-bit systems. There were also some true gems - I'd guess in about the same ratio as we see today.
What's bad here is that some entire game genres have disappeared from the face of the earth: 2D platform, 2D shooter, etc. Badly balanced, usually painfully ugly amateur efforts are appreciated, but it just isn't the same...
of course hardware manufacturers don't like to release the details of the hardware.
Why is that so natural? It used to be, when you bought a computer you got the entire schematic and a complete description of all the hardware registers. Up until the 16-bit generation you could buy that documentation for a small price - I know, I still have my "Amiga Hardware Reference Manual" gathering dust somewhere at home.
But all of a sudden it is no longer possible. Why?
I can at least tell you this: it isn't because hardware API's, all of a sudden, have become so unique, so incredibly advanced, that just telling people about register layout would cause vital secrets to escape the company. So having gotten that out of the way, why then?
It could be argued that it is a hassle actually writing documentation. But this cannot be the problem: the documentation must still exist for those few people who write drivers today. So that isn't it either.
Then it is possible that some sort of licensing scheme prohibits the companies from actually making the information public. Licensing from whom, I wonder? Who benefits from keeping this information locked up? I won't answer this one, but I bet you can guess...
Ahh, so because he gives to charity it is all right that he left the once great computer industry a wasteland?
Sorry, but that won't fly. He may have given some token money (for him) to charity (and as you so rightly remark, that's easy because it isn't actually costing him so much money due to tax deduction), but that doesn't excuse what he has done.
But if you want to be gullible about it, feel free to go right ahead. You aren't bothering me.
If Bill Gates had any care for the economy overal, he wouldn't have raped and pillaged the software industry until nothing was left but smoking ruins. The fact he has done this means he cares for nothing but the accumulation of wealth and power.
Skinning has done more to ruin usability of applications than anything else the last 10 years.
Have you considered the webbrowser? Its like skinning on top of a braindead set of controls, with all the power of your local machine stripped away in favor of... What exactly?
In my opinion, you are exactly wrong. "Skinned" applications are most often a hard to understand mess, containing numerous problems like:
- Not supporting resizing windows. I'll take resizing over skinning any day. It _really_ helps productivity if you can see all your information at once.
- Not using standard controls. They may be boring, but they get the job done and everyone knows immediately how they work. With skinned interfaces the controls are always a surprise. Even such simple things like closing the application may cause a hunt for the right "thingie" to click.
What is needed, instead, is to reevaluate the ways the standard controls are being used today. Quite often this will turn out to be sub-optimal. So look at your application. Is there any use of jargon? Are there context-sensitive helpbuttons? Does the help text actually explain the consequences and backgrounds of each choice, instead of just repeating the label on the button? How many clicks does the user need to change anything in the application, and can that number be decreased (if you have to select from a menu, then click a tab, scroll a list, click another tab, and then press "advanced" chances are you can improve usability). Is the window layout predictable? How about the consequences of pressing specific buttons? Are related controls grouped together? Are there redundant controls? Are inappropriate choices ghosted out? Is the layout visually pleasing? How about the colors?
But most importantly...
USE YOUR OWN APPLICATION. If something feels annoying to _you_, imagine how other people experience it! "Its fine if you know how it works" doesn't cut it anymore, we now have the technology to do considerably better than that!
Slashdot Mirror
Well, _that_ is certainly news to me. I always thought I had to delete all my code, and purge my knowledge of software design, before I could start a new project!
Because making software is a design effort, not a manufacturing effort. Any attempts to understand or control the process as if it were a manufacturing process is doomed to failure.
"Improves your internet experience", indeed...
Man, where do you find the time to still read slashdot?
And they said goofing off to read slashdot is a waste of time... ;-)
We wanted to buy an AMD64 machine, because we needed to develop 64-bit software for a customer that specifically requires it. However, Dell didn't sell one. We looked at alternative machines, from such "unknown brands" as HP. Then last week I got an email from my manager, pointing to an Intel 64bit machine on the Dell website. The tone of the email was one of relief - at least now we could buy from a company that we _know_ makes slow overpriced garbage, with graphics cards that crap out in months, harddisks that run at For the record, we are not a Dell preferred customer and pay list prices like every other sucker out there.
So you would argue that in terms of interactivity, Half Life is in the same league as Dragons Lair, then?
...and I learned to type with all of my 12 fingers.
By comparison, Dragons Lair requires you to press a single button during a very short interval to choose between death and life. It is just a series of binary choices, with no hope of variation, ever. The beautiful graphics tend to wow people, but once you play the game you quickly realize it isn't a game at all.
If you could just post your address and exact instructions as to which shelf I may be paying you a quiet visit later on...
Actually the last few years of my life were spent retiring two of these systems. They have been used until about three years ago to perform thermal vacuum tests on spacecraft by the European Space Agency. Since they were getting a bit long in the tooth, I was contracted to write a replacement system on modern hardware.
We discussed emulation at an early stage, but we realized quickly it would never be a solution since you cannot possibly emulate the incredible amount of IO channels the things have (dozens of serial ports, GPIB ports, etc.).
I once considered writing an emulator for the HP1000 - until I realized it is totally impossible to find documentation on the hardware. I guess that is a major problem for most of these old systems.
So, yes, they are doing the right thing. Let's pray it works out.
If my theory is correct, it is an incredibly dangerous game they are playing. However, if it helps stop software patents in Europe it is worth it, even if it means losing Munich to Microsoft. It would be losing a battle to win the war.
What exactly do you call "render problems"? If you are referring to the left column slightly overlapping (by maybe five pixels) the main column, I get that in Mozilla too. However, it is not a major disaster that renders the site utterly useless (as you make it sound) - it is a minor irritation at best, and you can make it go away in any number of ways, such as changing text size or forcing a reload. Still, I hope the Mozilla people will fix it eventually...
One ray of hope is that Microsoft is a convicted monopolist. They may hold all the patents in the world, but any _overt_ action to take out a competitor (no matter if patents are involved or not) will quickly get them back into court.
Or maybe not... Yes, there was an unholy load of crap out there on the old 8-bit systems. There were also some true gems - I'd guess in about the same ratio as we see today.
What's bad here is that some entire game genres have disappeared from the face of the earth: 2D platform, 2D shooter, etc. Badly balanced, usually painfully ugly amateur efforts are appreciated, but it just isn't the same...
Heh. I especially love the way you misspelled "acadehmic", it really adds something to the post ;-)
Why is that so natural? It used to be, when you bought a computer you got the entire schematic and a complete description of all the hardware registers. Up until the 16-bit generation you could buy that documentation for a small price - I know, I still have my "Amiga Hardware Reference Manual" gathering dust somewhere at home.
But all of a sudden it is no longer possible. Why?
I can at least tell you this: it isn't because hardware API's, all of a sudden, have become so unique, so incredibly advanced, that just telling people about register layout would cause vital secrets to escape the company. So having gotten that out of the way, why then?
It could be argued that it is a hassle actually writing documentation. But this cannot be the problem: the documentation must still exist for those few people who write drivers today. So that isn't it either.
Then it is possible that some sort of licensing scheme prohibits the companies from actually making the information public. Licensing from whom, I wonder? Who benefits from keeping this information locked up? I won't answer this one, but I bet you can guess...
Sorry, but that won't fly. He may have given some token money (for him) to charity (and as you so rightly remark, that's easy because it isn't actually costing him so much money due to tax deduction), but that doesn't excuse what he has done.
But if you want to be gullible about it, feel free to go right ahead. You aren't bothering me.
It is all beginning to make sense now...
Nah. "Gates".
"That is not dead which does eternal lie,
and with strange eons even death may die."
Have you considered the webbrowser? Its like skinning on top of a braindead set of controls, with all the power of your local machine stripped away in favor of... What exactly?
- Not supporting resizing windows. I'll take resizing over skinning any day. It _really_ helps productivity if you can see all your information at once.
- Not using standard controls. They may be boring, but they get the job done and everyone knows immediately how they work. With skinned interfaces the controls are always a surprise. Even such simple things like closing the application may cause a hunt for the right "thingie" to click.
What is needed, instead, is to reevaluate the ways the standard controls are being used today. Quite often this will turn out to be sub-optimal. So look at your application. Is there any use of jargon? Are there context-sensitive helpbuttons? Does the help text actually explain the consequences and backgrounds of each choice, instead of just repeating the label on the button? How many clicks does the user need to change anything in the application, and can that number be decreased (if you have to select from a menu, then click a tab, scroll a list, click another tab, and then press "advanced" chances are you can improve usability). Is the window layout predictable? How about the consequences of pressing specific buttons? Are related controls grouped together? Are there redundant controls? Are inappropriate choices ghosted out? Is the layout visually pleasing? How about the colors?
But most importantly...
USE YOUR OWN APPLICATION. If something feels annoying to _you_, imagine how other people experience it! "Its fine if you know how it works" doesn't cut it anymore, we now have the technology to do considerably better than that!