Re[2]: Microsoft Manual of Style

Subject: Re[2]: Microsoft Manual of Style
From: Janet_Valade -at- SYSTECH -dot- COM
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 1997 07:26:38 PST

>The inventor, Douglas Englebart, called it "X-Y Position Indicator for a
>Display System" in his patent, which sounds even worse to me.

I love this. It totally satisfies my personal need to be precise and
accurate. I would never use it for users, of course, because it would
probably not be meaninful to them, but my admiration for Mr. Englebart
is unbounded.

I am uncomfortable with using terms that instruct users to point
(pointing devices, point at the start button, etc.) because I have
seen (more than once) users who have been instructed to point at
something on the screen pick the mouse up from the desk and aim it at
the screen, like a pistol.

Janet

Janet Valade
Technical Writer
Systech Corp, San Diego, CA
janet_valade -at- systech -dot- com

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