Re: Minimalism

["Wayne J. Douglass" <wayned -at- VERITY -dot- COM>]

At 06:42 AM 1/31/97 PST, Robert Plamondon wrote:

>A car has an intuitive interface because it's standardized across all
>models, barring the difference betwen an automatic and manual transmission.
>If you watch people at a rental agency, they only spend enough time
>to adjust the mirrors before zooming off.  They don't read the manual,
>even though they've may never have been in that model before.  They
>don't need to.

For basic driving, maybe cars are standardized, but if you rent enough cars
you quickly discover that you may have trouble releasing the key from the
ignition, finding the windshield wiper controls, using the heater,
performing a host of other small tasks. I once inadvertently turned on the
high beams in a rental car and never figured out how it happened, much to
the chagrin of oncoming cars. I shoulda read the manual.


--Wayne Douglass

=========================================================
Verity, Inc.                 Email: wayned -at- verity -dot- com
894 Ross Drive           Telephone: 408-542-2139
Sunnyvale, CA 94089      Facsimile: 408-542-2040
Connecting People with Information: http://www.verity.com
=========================================================

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html