Re: double-clicking / was Windows '95

["Scott J. Wilson" <scott -at- WWTC -dot- TIMEPLEX -dot- COM>]

>(material removed)

>Anyway, I thought this story relates to the question Chuck asked
>about double clicking not being intuitive.  I would say that for
>this guy, indeed, double clicking at the proper speed was not
>intuitive.

>LaVonna
>lffunkhouser -at- halnet -dot- com


If we're going to have this discussion, perhaps we'd better define "intuitive."

My dictionary (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition)
defines intuitive as: "known or perceived by intuition : directly apprehended"

Inutition is defined as: "quick and ready insight" and "immediate
apprehension or cognition."

Given these defintions, I think it's appropriate to ask: Is *anything* about
using a computer intuitive?

I'll go out on a limb and say I don't think so.

I think that some things about using a computer are more easily apprehended
than other things, once they're explained and practiced.

But intuitive? I think not. As I mentioned in another post on this subject,
I teach Windows and Macintosh classes, and many times I've had students who
couldn't turn on the computer. I've also had students who put in floppy
disks upside down and/or backwards. And I'm sure many of us are familiar
with the Star Trek movie where Scotty, in the 20th century through means
best not gotten into now, picks up a mouse attached to a Macintosh and
speaks into it in an attempt to give commands to the computer.

Comments?

Scott J. Wilson
scott -at- wwtc -dot- timeplex -dot- com
70541,1466
(310) 443-4028