Comments below. --dawn -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jeff Schasny Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2004 11:44 AM To: U2 Users Discussion List Subject: RE: GUI as nice as character-based
I disagree with a couple of points. For one, there is no reason that a character based app can not be written to validate data inputs just as efficiently as a GUI. Users can be forced to choose from a list of pre authorized values by a number of means. An assigned function key which brings up a box of options which can be highlighted and selected for example. (dawn) Sure, Jeff, you CAN do that. I think I can still find that Mona Lisa printed on a Centronics dot matrix printer too. So, you can simulate a graphical environment with character-based windows and such but users are hip to the difference. Also, IMHO the primary usefulness of "a GUI" (lets face it folks, we're talking about the Microsoft Windows GUI) is the fact that so many people already know how to use it. Heck, even my technophobic 75 year old mother knows that "Files" is on the left side of the menu bar and "Help" is on the right. Employers can bring people in to an organization and be reasonably sure that they will be able to do some useful work on a computer system quickly because the "look and feel" of their GUI is a soft, cuddly, familiar face to just about everyone. (dawn) Agreed. Its not more efficient. It requires more resources. It increases the overall complexity of the application and therefore increases the probability of failures. (dawn) Agreed. Unfortunately, the bottom line is that users like it. Since we write software for users we need to use the GUI. (dawn) yup. I tried to get in touch with the future to see whether we could skip that GUI thing and go right to the WCI (way-cool interface) of the future. But it's not like relational databases & SQL where we should be able to just bypass that and jump to something better. Smiles. --dawn -- u2-users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.oliver.com/mailman/listinfo/u2-users
