"TheStandard.com" wrote:
> =====================================================================
> THE INDUSTRY STANDARD'S
> M E D I A G R O K
> A Review of Press Coverage of the Internet Economy
> =====================================================================
{snip}
> In Florida, Usability Matters
>
> As Media Grok went to press Monday morning, editors were ordering a
> recount by hand of all the articles focusing on the tech angle of the
> Florida cliffhanger. Publishers were threatening to go to court for an
> injunction against any more articles on the technology of ballots and
> elections, but until the injunction arrives, the digital ink continued
> to flow. Most outlets focused on the usability and design of ballots,
> and on the feasibility of online voting.
>
> ABCNews.com's Erica Rowell spotted a computerized voting terminal
> being tested in Riverside, Calif., last Tuesday and reported that it
> could be used to avoid some of the problems in Florida. There's no
> double-punching with the Sequoia AVC Advantage: Once you choose a
> candidate, it blocks out the other choices. What about system crashes?
> Alfie Charles, spokesman for California's secretary of state's office,
> told Rowell, "It's no more likely than a box of paper ballots being
> damaged in some natural calamity in fire or rain ... the potential is
> so remote that it doesn't outweigh the benefits of the systems." Silly
> us, who ever heard of an experimental computer system crashing?
>
> The experts aren't buying it. The San Jose Mercury News ran with a USA
> Today story interviewing tech CEOs on the possibility of Web-based
> elections. The story opened with a suggestion that "it's time to throw
> out the 1890s system of mechanical-lever machines and punch cards."
> But even security-savvy tech execs thought it would be a lifetime
> before folks can vote online as easily as they can swap votes online.
> Jim Cannavino, CEO of the computer security firm CyberSafe, warned
> about the hacker factor: "I don't want to have a president elected by
> the guys who spray-paint buses." Watch for online voting around 2050,
> he says.
>
> Meanwhile, Web designers were practically ecstatic that the "bad
> interface" issue of the Palm Beach butterfly ballot was getting so
> much attention. After all, for years they've been trying to get mildly
> distracted readers to click in the right place. Salon's Scott
> Rosenberg rounded up comments by a few of the gurus, including Jakob
> Neilsen, who attributed the confusion to "the attempt to map a
> two-column set of labels onto a one-column action area." Amazon.com
> seized the opportunity to bond with its core geek audience and offered
> a redesigned navigational scheme that mimicked the butterfly ballot.
> Meant to go to books? Oops, you clicked on lawn and patio. Rosenberg
> pointed to the Weblog of software analyst Joel Spolsky, who predicted
> that "this Florida ballot is going to show up in UI [user interface]
> books for the next 100 years." Civics books, too, but who reads those?
> - David Sims
>
> Man vs. the Machine
> http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/votertech001109.html
>
> Some Tech CEOs Vote for Web-Based Elections, but Others Wary
> http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/merc/docs/031468.htm
>
> Interface Bug Tips Electoral College!
> http://www.salon.com/tech/col/rose/2000/11/09/interface_design/index.html
>
> Amazon.com: Usability or Confusability
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/home/all-stores-ballot.html
>
> Ballots Need an Upgrade - Duh!
> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,40078,00.html
>
> Ballot Usability in Florida
> http://danbricklin.com/log/ballotusability.htm
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
{snip}
--
Christopher Gwyn
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
