Comments on: It’s all in the simplicity http://www.winextra.com/2008/02/15/its-all-in-the-simplicity/ aka Steve Hodson - a cranky old fart wandering the internet causing mayhem as he goes Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:50:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: StevenHodson http://www.winextra.com/2008/02/15/its-all-in-the-simplicity/#comment-72924 StevenHodson Sun, 17 Feb 2008 01:40:41 +0000 http://www.winextra.com/2008/02/15/its-all-in-the-simplicity/#comment-72924 I've read you comment a few times just so I could offer the flipside point of view because you do have some valid points. I would suggest though that the iPhone was never intended - currently anyway - for the scenario that you use. Even from day one the iPhone was been geared to the general consumer market. They have never hidden that fact - if anything they have done everything possible to make it quite clear.<br><br>So the moment you suggest that the "law of simplicity" doesn't work for you just because the iPhone won't perform the functions (simple or complex) that are beyond its intended scope only shows that you are one step to the side of a real user. You have specialized needs - being able to connect to an Exchange server - the consumer market the the iPhone is targeted for doesn't.<br><br>I am glad you prefer to use TwitBox and that it has the extra functions available in it hat make using it more productive for you. That said I wonder what your opinion will be of the next version I am working on that I believe simplifies the UI even more than it already but will also have - with the inital release and follow up releases - have more and easier to access function.<br><br>The perfect ideal of simplicity won't always mean a bare bones interface - it will mean though an interface that makes it incredibly easy for the user to access all the myriad of features that the developer adds in. How that is done is totally the responsibility of the developer and it must be done in such a way that the user doesn't know - nor need to know - the complexity under those simple interfaces.<br><br>thanks for the input - I appreciate it I've read you comment a few times just so I could offer the flipside point of view because you do have some valid points. I would suggest though that the iPhone was never intended - currently anyway - for the scenario that you use. Even from day one the iPhone was been geared to the general consumer market. They have never hidden that fact - if anything they have done everything possible to make it quite clear.

So the moment you suggest that the “law of simplicity” doesn't work for you just because the iPhone won't perform the functions (simple or complex) that are beyond its intended scope only shows that you are one step to the side of a real user. You have specialized needs - being able to connect to an Exchange server - the consumer market the the iPhone is targeted for doesn't.

I am glad you prefer to use TwitBox and that it has the extra functions available in it hat make using it more productive for you. That said I wonder what your opinion will be of the next version I am working on that I believe simplifies the UI even more than it already but will also have - with the inital release and follow up releases - have more and easier to access function.

The perfect ideal of simplicity won't always mean a bare bones interface - it will mean though an interface that makes it incredibly easy for the user to access all the myriad of features that the developer adds in. How that is done is totally the responsibility of the developer and it must be done in such a way that the user doesn't know - nor need to know - the complexity under those simple interfaces.

thanks for the input - I appreciate it

]]> By: MiniMage http://www.winextra.com/2008/02/15/its-all-in-the-simplicity/#comment-72923 MiniMage Sun, 17 Feb 2008 01:07:39 +0000 http://www.winextra.com/2008/02/15/its-all-in-the-simplicity/#comment-72923 I'm a real user, but simplicity doesn't win with me. The iPhone is too simple to properly utilize an Exchange server, for one example. It's simply locked down to one provider and only certain apps, which makes other folks go through not-so-simple steps to open it up (although I heard that this and fixing it after Apple's updates kill your phone has been simplified). There simply won't be a day when a screen full of pretty icons is my chosen UI, but I will respect simple people's rights to have that.<br><br>If I preferred simplicity, I wouldn't prefer TwitBox, but it's the additional features I find attractive. It does more. It may be telling that I prefer a standard transmission. Sure, it complicates my driving experience, but I like the fact that it simplifies things for my mechanics (and, hopefully, my wallet, which Leave, me free to buy complicated, but fun technology). I'm a real user, but simplicity doesn't win with me. The iPhone is too simple to properly utilize an Exchange server, for one example. It's simply locked down to one provider and only certain apps, which makes other folks go through not-so-simple steps to open it up (although I heard that this and fixing it after Apple's updates kill your phone has been simplified). There simply won't be a day when a screen full of pretty icons is my chosen UI, but I will respect simple people's rights to have that.

If I preferred simplicity, I wouldn't prefer TwitBox, but it's the additional features I find attractive. It does more. It may be telling that I prefer a standard transmission. Sure, it complicates my driving experience, but I like the fact that it simplifies things for my mechanics (and, hopefully, my wallet, which Leave, me free to buy complicated, but fun technology).

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