Re: My usability experience - Asa Dotzler should be fired

On Aug 22, 6:14 am, Gervase Markham <[email protected]> wrote:
> If you own a car, it is a seriously empowering thing. (As someone who
> recently acquired one at the age of 32, I certainly feel able to get to
> more places in greater comfort than I used to.)

Sure.

> But I don't understand much of what's going on under the bonnet.

I'd recommend learning. Or having a friend who can help you keep it
oiled among other things. Or being wealthy so you can afford to have a
professional mechanic do simple tasks that you could do yourself at
material costs.

"Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations
which we can perform without thinking about them." -- Alfred North
Whitehead

Imprecise. This is the /effect/ the advancement of tools has on
members of civilization.

I had originally had, "in software," in my message, but I figured it
was true enough for anything. If you don't know how to drive, you're
not empowered. If you have someone else driving for you, you're still
not empowered. If you have to pay out the nose for tech support,
automobile or software, you are not empowered. If you have to have
someone else change your car's oil, /you/ are not empowered. If you
need to call a plumber, you are not empowered. There is no other road
to empowerment than to be able to understand how to use that "power."
Anything else is luck.