On Monday 12 November 2007 06:31:26 John Denker wrote:
> Agreed!  I've thought for ages that a top-to-bottom reorg
> would be helpful.
> The starting point for me was the realization that there
> are far more aircraft functions that need to be controlled
> than there are keys on the keyboard

Which is why we have cockpit hotspots.  The simple fact of the matter is this; 
we model a vast array of aircraft, of almost every type imaginable.  We are 
modelling them in an ever more detailed way, and each aircraft really is very 
different; far too different to provide enough key bindings to make each 
aircraft controllable by the keyboard alone.

For those who never fly or model anything other than single engine 
light "training" type fixed-wing aircraft, perhaps the problem isn't so 
noticeable; these are comparatively simple and probably have a reasonable 
degree of commonality of functions between aircraft.

There are, IMHO, very few functions indeed which really _require_ a keyboard 
binding by default.  Why try and squeeze every aircraft type and function 
into one cramped mould?

> In situations such as this, the time-honored solution is
> to come up with a _language_.
> A good language has
>  *) some orthogonality, and
>  *) some mnemonic value.

And will be detested (indeed, completely shunned) by the "average user".  
While I can see your point, and some possible advantages with your idea, it's 
a complete non-starter from the point of view of the non-programmer "normal" 
user.

Maybe most of us on this list find it natural to think in such terms, but I 
can assure you (from dealing with typical "users" every day) that most people 
don't.

Just my opinion...

Cheers,

AJ

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