Re: merging edit time and run time

On Sat, May 14, 2005 at 12:49:39PM -0400, Mark Slicker wrote:
<SNIP>
>
> >Chucks essay about the "user illusion" has made but a small dent in
> >these insights. Or maybe Chuck just warns not to get overboard, and
> >supplies alternatives. I've not seen him claiming that it is
> >*the* alternative.
>
> Every word defined in Forth is an abstraction. Chuck is a master of
> abstraction. The "user illusion" is about the mismatch between what
> the system is physically doing, and what user believes the system is
> doing.

It is clear that I somehow miss the point here.
I wonder if the silly buttons in Windows in red that is supposedly a
power switch (it took me ages to figure that out) is a good example of
a user illusion? It doesn't really switch the system off, but
instructs Windows to shut down, and then the power is not really shut
off, but instead it is set to standby mode.

And a question. Lets say Mary is a non-knowledgeable computer user.
She uses a mail program. Lets say it is text based.
She says `mutt albert@xxx', types a text, then exits the editor.
She is then left with a menu, with commands like q and y.
Then types a command (y) to send the message off to me.

Is there a user illusion here?

She believes there is a mail message going to be delivered, and that
is not untrue. But what is physically happening (uucp, pop,
Encapsulated Ethernet, or timing diagrams of adsl lines) she doesn't
know. (I must admit that I have myself only a vague idea how an ADSL
line manages to get that bandwidth accross).

In cars there is changing a lot. The switch to put the lights
on is in the same place and feels the same, but nowadays it
communicates with a computer and the lights are switched on over
a can bus. Is there a user illusion here?
If so is that bad? (I can see that is so if you have to fix it
yourself in the desert. But then, how many people out there
would be able to fix a mechanical switch/work around it?)

>
> Mark
>
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