Usability

Primal Sneeze has come back with a query about why,
if an application is Plug and Play, one might need help
from forum members to get it up and running.

The best metaphor I can find for using all the applications
available on the Web is that of knitting. Everything sets off
swimmingly, but one missed stitch along the way can cause chaos.
That is when discussion is needed.

I dislike the feeling that a machine is actually directing every move
I make, which probably explains why I also dislike the inevitablity
of knitting. I needed help in learning to use Blogger at first because
even though I could upload photos with relative ease and use the system
for placing them, it was pleasant to think that, by adding code to the template,
my blog had a personal touch, something that was not available everywhere.

The fact that the links on the bottom, left-hand corner of this page were
set by hand into the template gives much satisfaction, much more so than when I upload
a HTML link directly into a pre-set system.

Humans like discussing the ups and downs of computing, and so visit
Forum chat rooms, even if they already half know what they are doing.
Hence my thanks, eternally, to old photography pals from Blather, p45,
Kiwirant, h2g2 and Techfocus the Lounge.

I mean, when was the last time your computer asked you if you were
having a good day?