I had a feeling we were both honing in on the same goals, Jaanus, and weren't really too far off. I'm just sensitive to the neutral tool argument because at one time I tried to hold to that reasoning, and was shown how it didn't hold up.
But we hold the same values, and I really like that we're thinking about these things, and talking about how to negotiate those complex territories. Chris On Sun, Jan 10, 2010 at 1:57 PM, Jaanus Kase <jaa...@gmail.com> wrote: > Christine, > > I agree with what you say and I did not think that aspect through > enough when posting. I subscribe to everything that you say; > additionally, I like the research that says that our language affects > our thinking, and that it has been proven that the thought patterns of > different languages are different. Even though language is supposed to > be value-neutral, it does affect thinking. > > One of the most important values attributed to usability that I know > of, is that it is generally meant to improve human condition in the > widest sense. That is precisely what made me respond to the initial > post. If companies are doing a good job with improving human > condition with their products, and using these products to accomplish > their possibly malicious business objectives, then in my view it is > not right to make the products "less usable" and thereby make the > human condition worse than it could be. Instead, the response should > be to scrutinize the businesses on the other, "backend" side, to > make sure that they do not abuse their power. > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > Posted from the new ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=48267 > > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help