Actually John, I think that you need to know a fair amount
about any complex mechanism to best make use of it. Be it a
camera or a computer or a form of operating system or an
application or utility. DOS/Windows (and CPM before them)
have just made different assumptions about the user than the
Apple/Mac designers have. At the risk of being inflammatory,
and please recognize that this is my personal opinion, not
stated as a Fact: I believe that MS engineers believe that
the world is separated into two classes: total idiots, and
geeks. They grudgingly make allowance for the idiots, but
don't really expect anyone without a certificate of geekdom
from the MS magic kingdom to get underneath the surface.
Apple/Mac on the other hand seems to assume that all users
are geniuses who can grasp the whole beauty of the system,
who really want to explore many ways of doing things, who
are seeking to find themselves and will use the computer as
a tool to help themselves along the way. The 'ease of use'
is only skin deep; you have to know much about the system to
be able to take advantage of it. I bet there is a large
portion of the Mac using population who have never 'rebuilt'
their desktop. They can get by, but sooner or later they
will buy a new machine because the old one 'is slowing
down.' As though electronic devices slowed down the way
mechanical ones do.
In summary, both systems take work to understand and use
properly and effectively, the Windows approach calls for a
lower minimal necessary knowledge level but a larger step to
move from almost total incompetence to reasonably effective
user. Macs are a bit harder to understand at first sight,
but mastery of a few simple consistent concepts will quickly
move you to more effective use.
IMHO. Stan
John Francis wrote:
I couldn't hep but notice, in the latest flare-up of Mac
advocacy, that once again one of the purported strengths
of the Mac is that you don't have to understand the inner
workings to be able to use the machine sucessfully.
Oddly enough the same argument can be applied to cameras,
but the suggestion is generally treated with derision.
