On Aug 12, 2004, at 2:51 PM, Julia Thompson wrote:
Yeah, well, some people took to command lines, and are a lot happier using command lines than GUIs. I realize such people are in the minority, but if you don't understand that there is such a minority and that they get frustrated with GUIs because the command line is just a lot more *logical* (but maybe less intuitive for the majority) and that they operate more on logic than intuition, you're going to make them unhappy by dismissing their preferences.
If I may sing another chorus of "All Things Bright and Macintosh," don't forget that under that practically edible user interface lies a heart of Unix, with the command line of your choice (ships with at least sh, csh, bash, zsh, and the default tcsh). With earlier versions of Mac OS, I was frequently frustrated by the painful process one had to go through to, for example, rename a batch of files.
Sort of like the car dealer who totally lost the sale with my mother when she expressed a preference for a manual transmission (she has never, ever, ever driven an automatic, narrowly dodging *that* bullet last summer) and responded to her with a smile, saying, "Oh, most women really prefer an automatic," as if what SHE, the individual, wanted and didn't want was totally beside the point.
What a goober: the answer, of course, was "If that's what you prefer, let me order that option for you." Honestly, some people are so stupid, I wonder how it is that they remember to breathe.
(Figure out where people's lines are drawn, and don't cross them.
Here's a story of someone who operates at completely the other end of the "how to deal with people" spectrum, when our first son, Kevin, was at Stanford for surgery to remove a brain tumor, his neurosurgeon, John Adler, seemed to be working very hard to keep in check what we sensed was a rich sense of humor lurking just under the surface in check. Later, when his manner with us lightened and warmed up considerably, we asked what was behind his earlier reticence. He replied that when he first meets families with gravely ill kids, he maintains a neutral demeanor until he sees if it would be appropriate for him to lighten up with the family. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
Sincerely,
Dave
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