Two points:
1) Isn't that ('not the place to hang out') rather a holier-than-thou attitude?
I've been on the Internet longer than Al Gore, and I agree with Lynda: the
KISS principle is being violated here (and in far too many other places), by
Big Brother. I don't like the idea that I'm forced on a regular basis to
invest time trying to un-do the "new features" that someone implemented on me
whether I want them or not. Seems like every bank does this too. Doesn't make
it right, and I don't have to use those banks that do it. I often use a line
when referring to this kind of programming: Just because you CAN do something
doesn't mean you MUST.
2) My command of Hebrew is relatively weak. When I use Israeli sites (which I
do often), I look for the word (in Hebrew letters) "Anglit", or the word (in
English letters) "English", and I'm almost always rewarded. Smart implementors
can be found, even if all it leads to is that relatively limited
English-version of the page (yes, it can be frustrating, but hey, it's an
Israeli page.) That being said, I agree with your point regarding
international symbols. It took me a lot of experimentation to figure out the
wheel on the Google page, since I must have missed the memo that said it was an
international standard, but I figured it out eventually. I just don't like
having to use it every few days to turn off some additional silliness I didn't
ask for in the first place and pretty clearly don't need.
It's nice to have flexibility, but "all things to all people" has never been a
success. It leads to bloat, bugs, resource-hogs, etc. KISS....
Hal
--- On Thu, 5/26/11, Derek J. Balling <[email protected]> wrote:
> From: Derek J. Balling <[email protected]>
> Subject: Re: [lopsa-discuss] I know that this is probably futile, but is
> there a search engine out there that doesn't SUCK???
> To: "Lynda" <[email protected]>
> Cc: [email protected]
> Date: Thursday, May 26, 2011, 11:05 AM
>
> On May 26, 2011, at 11:22 AM, Lynda wrote:
> > If you're just someone
> > who is expecting something to work today the way it
> did yesterday, why
> > make it so hard to get that same experience?
>
> If that's the expectation, then may I politely suggest that
> "the internet" is not at all the place to hang out. Internet
> sites, especially sites like Google, are constantly evolving
> to improve their experience, their metrics, etc., etc., and
> to expect that it's just "always going to be like it was the
> other day" is simply not a reasonable expectation in the
> world we live in.
>
> > but what on earth made them switch from WORDS to that
> stupid gear symbol?
>
> Because that "stupid gear symbol" is rapidly becoming the
> "language independent" symbol for "preferences". So
> if, perhaps, you can't read the language on the screen at
> all, you can still find the place where you might be able to
> say, change the preference for language.
>
> There is nothing more frustrating than being given a
> localized version of a page when you're visiting a foreign
> country and don't actually read the native language, and
> it's not even in an alphabet similar to your own (ie, try
> visiting Israel without speaking Hebrew, and finding the
> preference for changing your language back to English...
> I'd've killed for it to be a universal icon like the gear
> rather than yet another word in an alphabet I can't
> understand).
>
> D
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