If you are stuck with CLI and people want the GUI (and all the
evidence is that they DO want the GUI - at least at first) there are
a number of good menu programs out there which you can use to give
people access to the features of the CLI computers without them
having to memorize anything.
You can write your own batch files, but I am a fan of MOO - very
simple, yet it does a bunch. It's text based. I think there are
others which use pictures - intended for children who can't read. I
guess some of these may be good for adults too.
Of course on public terminals, you sometimes don't want people to
have access to the CLI at all - for example, you want a browser to
come up which is connected to a LAN, or which can only dial a
certain number.... In these settings, machines limited to the CLI are
in no way handicapped so long as they run the program you need -
let's see...WP for DOS, 123 or QUATTRO for spreadhsheets
(all of these produce files which can be read by the popular W9X
programs), Arachne browser if you can support the graphics.....
And despite the grumbling I see here every now and then about touch
screens, they are wonderful for public access terminals. I helped
put together a pretty large public information kiosk system some
years back before I knew what HTML was (Yes, DOS based). We used
proprietary educational software to do what any old browser does
today with HTML. The thing that made these terminals moderately
successful was our use of Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) touch screens.
They use ultrasound on the monitor surface to create your interface
and unlike keyboards, mice, resistive touchscreens, strain-guage
touchscreens, etc... they are immune to just about any kind of
foolin' around short of a baseball bat to the screen. They're still
expensive, but they pay for themselves in the mice you don't have to
replace and the keyboards you don't have to disassemble weekly
because somebody poured Coke in them. And with a touchscreen / menu
or graphical interface, you can have complete control of the system.
Now you don't want to do this for every computer you have - but I
found that people who would never get close to a computer will (when
nobody's around to see) take a poke at the screen on a kiosk - where
the computer is disguised somewhat.
Will this make them any more computer literate? Well... maybe only a
litttle. But it may give people access to the tools that we take for
granted without them having to pay their "dues." the way we have. In
some situations, that's very good! Food for thought.
Bob
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