The Butt Ugly Weblog

Even worse are developers who seem to use technology because it's the latest buzzword. One of the most overused technologies at the moment in my opinion is XML. I have seen people create complex engines and languages from XML. Now this really defeats the purpose when you can right some modular classes and methos and write the raw code even faster. I'm seeing this more and more and it's driving me nuts. If such people had there way your Wikis properties file would be XML, CSS would be XML and we would all write our documents in DocBook instead of OpenOffice, Word etc....

It's all a bit nuts

Keep Well

--Greg, 24-Feb-2006

I think it's not Word which is wrong with its godzillion features, it's the USERS who fail to train themselves to use the features in a powerful way. IMNSHO one of the major time thiefs (especially in public bureaucracy) is amateurs fiddling with computers and doing same mechanical operations over and over again. The computers and word processors should be the means to solve these problems, not create them! Training the users to use such simple things as macros and even styles would enable the people to do something useful with their time (for example, have a coffee break) instead of repetitively using the three features they know. Never mind the more advanced features...

--Tube, 25-Feb-2006

>>Companies use massive amounts of money to usability design

In Finland there's no known company which uses usability design. This information is gathered by asking developers who are working in big finnish companies.

I just wanted to point out that there where Microsoft and other big boys are actually designing usability we are doing nothing.

--Jasmo, 25-Feb-2006

Um. Nokia does. I know. I've worked with those guys ;-)

However, there are few Finnish companies that are targeting masses in the same way that Nokia is, so you're probably right.

--JanneJalkanen, 25-Feb-2006

Actually, in economics, bundling of features and selling it as a package is called price discrimination. You are indeed right, that this has to do with the long tail very much. From an economic point of view it benefits the social welfare very much.

--Toni, 25-Feb-2006

Thanks for the link, Toni! I fixed it, too (no HTML, WikiMarkup here :)

--JanneJalkanen, 26-Feb-2006

Talking about usability...in this wiki, wouldn't automatic conversion of <b>, <a href>, etc. be an usability enhancement, since many people have a justified intuitive expectation that HTML works in the web comments? Not that I use this wiki for any other purpose than reading this blog.

--Simo, 26-Feb-2006

JanneJalkanen > Heh, it seems Nokia has different methods in different places. People that i knew didn't use usability design. Very well..

--Jasmo, 26-Feb-2006

Simo: perhaps. Or perhaps not. It's certainly a very low priority, and it's usually no problem for me to fix broken comments, as people are adding so few comments with hyperlinks.

Interestingly though, I always assume that HTML does not work in blog comments, unless specifically stated so.

--JanneJalkanen, 26-Feb-2006

The issue is not about how many features does Word have! It's more about how to make the stuff that simple people use...easily accessible. And put the advanced stuff... in a faraway locker. Which could be emptied and then put in the bathroom, when the need arises.

p

--Hephail, 08-Mar-2006