Re:I Disagree (Score 1)

Quoting you: Of course, the _quickest_ way to learn how to use a computer is to learn just the things you need to use. However, do not confuse this with the easiest way. For example, there is a widespread belief that GUIs are more intuitive, and therefore easier to use than the command line. I disagree. I can hardly think of anything more intuitive than pressing the key which has the character that you want on the screen. From there on, you build up the complexity until you have a command that does what you want done, and press the key that causes the command to be executed. end quote Different people have different learning curves and learning modes. I've had a problem dealing with unlabeled icons because I don't always make an association between the graphic and what it's supposed to mean, and that's a point to support your argument. When I post on forums and blogs that just use icons for reply, read messages or send email I have trouble figuring out which is which and only half of them give rollover labeling to help. Often the icons are specific to that skin or theme and someone else's idea of what a reply button ought to look like bears no relation to anything I've seen. However, I have as much problem with codes and acronyms -- when words are condensed or spelled in a way unique to computer syntax it's hard to figure out what I'm supposed to do. Man files assume you know the command you're trying to look up. I haven't had much success using them. I disagree that command line is more intuitive. You have to already know what you want and know the jargon and syntax to try to construct a command on the command line. Drop down menu items are usually much better labeled and you can see the list before you select it. Usually they don't have jargon spellings either, but are familiar words. I agree with this completely: The strength of GUIs is that they are discoverable. Once you learn how to move the mouse, select items, and navigate menus, you can discover pretty much everything a program can do by doing just that. There is a lesson here for CLI designers: make your interfaces discoverable. Tell the user how to get a list of commands and how to find out what they do. --That's exactly it. Once I figured out how to manipulate the menus, which was hilarious and did take me a while, it got easier to do so in other software. It's hard to write about anything you know and put it in terms understandable to someone who doesn't share your knowledge. That's just something about writing and knowledge.