Re: Stop the bling, fergawdssake!

On 13/11/2011 1:35 PM, Sailfish wrote:
> Did you get just as upset that ATT dropped the rotary UI and went to
> touch-tone? Do you use the Jitterbug phone since it has a simple UI? How
> about TVs, do you pine over the good ol' days when you could use a
> rotary dial to change the channel?

You're missing my point. I'm not objecting to new UIs, I'm objecting to 
changing existing UIs for no reason other than "It's sweet..." or "It's 
cool..." or some other irrelevant reason.

To use your examples: I would've objected strenuously to changing the 
placement of the numbers on the rotary dials. I think you would, too.

For that matter, apart from the arrangement of the numbers, it seems no 
two cell/cordless phones use the same buttons or the same arrangements 
of those buttons. Re,mote controls for TVs etc are even worse. This 
causes all kinds of bafflements, and sometimes worse. No doubt some 
dumb-ass "intellectual property" crapola prevents makers from using a 
standard set and arrangement of buttons. Or some silly superstition 
about "freedom of choice." Imagine the chaos if we had the same 
"freedom" in the number and arrangement of the controls of a car.....

If the FF UI were a brand new design, I wouldn't object. But it's not. 
The changes are just tweaks to an existing design. I'll repeat: new 
features and a wider range of options for customising existing features, 
are Good Things. Hiding stuff that was visible, or moving stuff from one 
menu to another (something that MS is notorious for doing), etc, are Bad 
Things.


> To paraphrase Omar Khayyam:
>
> The Moving Technology changes; and, having changed,
> Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
> Shall lure it back to cancel half a UI element,
> Nor all your Tears wash out an Icon of it

Nicely done. ;-)

If the FF UI were new technology, your revision would very apt.

But the FF UI  is a rotary dial trying to look like a touchtone phone.

HTH
Wolf K.

PS: We have kept one rotary phone, it's the only one that will work when 
the power goes out.