It is possible. Apple did it when they removed the "Stop" button from the iPod and from iTunes. Before that, it was commonly accepted that an interface for a player had to have Play, Pause, Stop, Forward and Rewind - even though Stop only makes sense when the device is a tape deck. People have accepted that. So I think it is possible.
On Fri, Mar 21, 2008 at 10:42 AM, Matt Theakston <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > When is it too late to change an "accepted cultural convention in the > computer world"? > I ran into to albeit lighthearted taboo at work when i made it clear i had > to look at the keyboard when i typed. Everyone(for the most part) accepts > qwerty. we've learned broken metaphors, and adapted to innefficient and > unintuitive input methods, because amongst other things humans are so > adaptive. But if people working in this field can't look to change these > things, who will? > > Matt > > > On 3/20/08, W Evans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Your right to the extent that many aren't right - or at least aren't > > right > > anymore - and most metaphors we use in interaction/interface design are > > partially broken. The other thing is that I wonder if the good academic > > work > > of HCI was actually happening after people already had come up with for > > instance the signifiers (as icons), and the basic first order metaphors, > > and > > HCI as discipline came along later to sweep up the mess and try to put > > it in > > context. What spurned my thought was just reading some parts of Eco's > > Semiotics and thinking about the cognitive processes behind the use of > > labels/metaphors/icons to point to the signified (usually an action - > > not > > noun), and how import/export just didn't make any sense to me - although > > I > > have completely accepted it as the way things are. > > > > On Thu, Mar 20, 2008 at 7:56 PM, Uday Gajendar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > wrote: > > > > > > which you save it with a different name, and extension. So why use > > > > words > > > > whose meaning refers to space (import is moving to here, export is > > > > moving to > > > > there) - to mean translation? > > > > > > > > > Aren't all metaphors inherently "broken"? :-) In the sense that no > > > metaphor is 100% verisimilitude, but a language device to achieve a > > > necessary, yet sufficient level of understanding to basically grok a > > > concept, make it just *meaningful* enough to act on it given a certain > > > context and situation. (and overcome difficulties in interpretation, > > > as a sense-making device). I can't move real office windows around, i > > > normally don't duplicate physical files and folders with a finger > > > stroke, and animal mice don't have buttons. But i know through learned > > > behavior, observation and cultural convention the computer > > > "equivalents" work in specific ways (and evolve over time, like > > > "spring loaded" folders and "wheel mice") and mean certain things. > > > > > > And, who knows what the inventors of import/export were thinking (I > > > doubt East India Tea and tariffs)... Probably just wanted a quick one > > > word for "bring data in" and "send data out" to use as a short > > > command, twisted it to be about directionality, and it stuck for > > > better or worse. Now it's simply accepted cultural convention in the > > > computer world. Just deal with it :-) > > > > > > > > > > > > Uday Gajendar > > > Sr. Interaction Designer > > > Voice Technology Group > > > Cisco | San Jose > > > ------------------------------ > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > +1 408 902 2137 > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > ~ will > > > > "Where you innovate, how you innovate, > > and what you innovate are design problems" > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Will Evans | CrowdSprout > > tel +1.617.281.1281 | fax +1.617.507.6016 | [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ________________________________________________________________ > > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > > > > -- ~ will "Where you innovate, how you innovate, and what you innovate are design problems" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Will Evans | CrowdSprout tel +1.617.281.1281 | fax +1.617.507.6016 | [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
