Social Interface comment

 

Social interfaces only serve to patronize. Right Bob?...

I just read Information Week's Social Interfaces cover story (first week of July 1996, this article is getting old!). This little section is about why social interfaces suck.

Social interfaces are patronizing, cumbersome to use when you have learned how to do a task and they ignore the fact that the computer is not real life, which is what the social interfaces attempt to mimic. Computers have completely different capabilities and limitations than its real world counterparts. We know this, so why should we try to keep those new to the game in the dark? Like Alan Kay says (T.A.O.H.C.I.D. p199 ) it is the `magic' that a metaphor can't support, the unique ability the computer brings to the table that makes the computer most valuable. Packard Bell's Navigator illustrates the absurdity by actually having virtual computer on the virtual desktop!!!! As the saying goes; only an idiot would want to use idiot proof software...

Computers are different from the rest of what we are familiar with. If we desperately try to make computers fit into what we are familiar with, we'll loose much of what is unique about what it can contribute.

 

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