--- Dave G <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > If the over whelming majority of people expect a system to behave > one way, that's not evidence that they are "brain dead", but that > it's very likely the expected behaviour is more natural for people, > and systems should match humans, not vice versa.
I will try to make this my only comment, and at the same time I think that I can bring this topic back to Web development. :-) In my opinion, the overwhelming majority of people subscribed to a technical mailing list like this are going to be computer professionals of some sort. This doesn't mean we are all genuises, but it does mean that most of us know how things work much better than the average person. What is intuitive to us is that things work as expected. I have never (I do mean never) seen a mail client that does not have an option to reply to everyone, if that is your choice. Ignoring the fact that many mail clients have group options, you have at least two choices: 1. Reply 2. Reply All You are suggesting that this be changed to: 1. Reply All 2. Reply All This makes absolutely no sense. All you do is remove one option, and clicking "Reply" is not an easier task than clicking "Reply All" for any mail client that I have seen anyway, so nothing is gained in exchange for this loss of choice. It also breaks the "Reply" option, since it will still be misleadingly labeled as such. To bring this topic back to Web development (without losing the passion of the debate, I think), consider an HTML form where users enter a phone number in three separate text fields (assuming a US phone number). Now, those who are the least bit familiar with how the Web works will instinctively enter the first three numbers, hit tab, enter the next three numbers, tab again, and finally enter the last four numbers. Some Web sites I have visited think it is helpful to use some client-side scripting to move the focus from the first text field to the second after three numbers have been entered. So, when the user hits tab after entering the first three numbers, the second text field is skipped entirely. Isn't this a really terrible thing to do? It's an almost exact analogy to mangling mail headers. It has the same characteristics: 1. Adds no real value 2. Is counterintuitive for experienced users 3. Hurts those who get used to it when they use compliant systems So, if this debate continues, please debate on the merits of intuitive interfaces for the Web or something. I think the same two perspectives will exist, and hopefully I've explained mine pretty clearly. Chris ===== Chris Shiflett - http://shiflett.org/ PHP Security Handbook Coming mid-2004 HTTP Developer's Handbook http://httphandbook.org/ RAMP Training Courses http://www.nyphp.org/ramp -- PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
