At 6:57 PM -0700 7/23/98, Mike Nolan wrote:
> They don't know how to use an editor, so they send 2 or 3 line posts followed
> by the ENTIRE message they're responding to, and sometime the entire
> message that THAT one responded to, etc.
>
> We get posts that contain redundant data in HTML format, posts with
> Microsoft TNEF attachments on them, whatever the Bill Gates those are, etc.
That's why I built front end filters on things. It traps this stuff,
and sends back a useful message to the user that actually tries to
explain the situation.
> Somehow, I don't know that making OUR tools smarter is always the best
> approach, because I don't know that providing smarter tools makes for
> smarter users.
I have, and while there are limitation to what you can do, it's
definitely worth doing. Unless there's someone around willing to
babysit people through it, or you're willing to just write them off.
but my user base is quite naive about things, so I really don't ahve
the choice to be exclusionist.
> We require new drivers to demonstrate some minimal competence behind the
> wheel before giving them a license, at times I have to wonder if some
> kind of minimal computer competency test shouldn't be necessary before
> giving them a mouse, keyboard, and modem.
I'm sure glad they didn't do that to me when *I* was starting out. It's
a lot easier to demand these things once you already qualify....
--
Chuq Von Rospach (Hockey fan? <http://www.plaidworks.com/hockey/>)
Apple Mail List Gnome (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
Plaidworks Consulting (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED])
<http://www.plaidworks.com/> + <http://www.lists.apple.com/>
