[ubuntu-us-in] A Natty Day To You All

[Scott Blaydes]

On 04/28/2011 09:13 PM, Rob Ludwick wrote:
>>> So far, I haven't had the chance to switch my main desktops over to
>>> it, but up here the Fort Wayne LUG had Jorge Castro of Canonical come
>>> out and give us a tour, and I've got to say I'm actually looking
>>> forward to it.
>>
>> See you in 11.10 when they revert back.  =)
> 
> As Jorge said when he came to the LUG meeting, he made the point that
> the standard gnome UI fails you if you're not technical.  They have done
> the usability studies to show it.  It's so bad they can't baseline
> anything.  
> 

I haven't seen Unity yet, as it is currently downloading, but I start to
wonder if I am no longer the target for Ubuntu.  I am a technical user,
so I do not want the bloat associated another ui/desktop environment
installed on my system that I will never use.

I remember the clock on our old VCR blinking 12:00 alot because the
interface failed non-technical users who were too busy to learn how to
program the clock.  My mom is a perfect example.  Her idea of fixing the
VCR clock was to have me do it.  That not to say the interface for
programing the clock was bad, my mom just never wanted to pay enough
attention to learn to do it.

The idea that comes to mind right now is Ubuntu FP: Fisher Price.  Sure,
that is an exaggeration, but I think it get the point across.

A computer is a tool, yet no one wants to read the instructions on how
to use it.  Do we blame the bandsaw when someone looses a finger for not
taking the time to learn how to use the bandsaw safely?  No, but we
blame the computer/OS/UI for ppl not wanting to learn how to use it
correctly.

I know UI changes are needed to evolve things, or else we would still be
using CLI only...on a teletype...or punch cards, but I am not sure Unity
will really be a step forward.

Again, I haven't tried it, so I might change my mind after some time
with it.

Sorry, just some random things pinging around in my head about this.

Thank you,
Scott Blaydes