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Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!munnari.oz.au!constellation!convex!convex!news.duke.edu!MathWorks.Com!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!swrinde!news.uh.edu!not-for-mail From: cosc19v2@menudo.uh.edu (cosc19v2) Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.development Subject: Re: users - not entirely clear on the concept Date: 9 Jun 1994 10:11:07 -0500 Organization: University of Houston Lines: 48 Message-ID: <2t7beb$p0n@menudo.uh.edu> References: <2t21rj$hfr@menudo.uh.edu> <2t36ee$gs2@rodan.uu.net> <2t3g9a$s6h@menudo.uh.edu> <2t78ps$avo@rodan.uu.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: menudo.uh.edu In article <2t78ps$avo@rodan.uu.net>, Mike O'Dell <mo@uunet.uu.net> wrote: >I see you just don't get it. Oh well.... Sigh .. sigh ... sigh ... You just don't know what computer is - what software/hardware is. >How nice a person I am has nothing to do with it. Of COUSRse, yes, it does ( :) :) :) ) >Chainsaws, hammers, and moulding shapers are NOT very user-friendly, >nor are metal lathes, arc welders, metal shears or bending breaks. >Grand Pianos are not very user-friendly, >nor are violins, oboes, or harpsichords. >Airplanes and helicopters are not very user-friendly. >NONE of these things graciously forgive mistakes. All those you described above are HARDWARE - NON-PROGRAMMABLE hardware. On the other hand, computer is a PROGRAMMABLE hardware. Software is the one which make this unforgiving hardware (computer) usable by human-beings who do not know the details of the hardware. >It would be wonderful if all these things *were* user-friendly and >it didn't take significant skill and experience to use them safely >or productively. > >While I don't discourage doing what one can to minimize the danger from >high-speed rotating parts, the fact that the most powerful and >complex thing man has invented (except maybe for the pipe organ) hasn't >be reduced to "Do What I Mean" for the greenest rube shouldn't be >surprising. Nor is it particularly possible, and probably not desirable. > >There are limits to all tools, as well as requirements for use. For those hardware, yes, there are limits. But for the hardware called computer, which is programmable, it all depends on how you program. There is no "Department of Hammer", University of XXX. There is no "Dept. of Chainsaw", YYY Univ. Computer is the only hardware which is studied extensively, because it has (almost) unlimited possibility through software. In fact, what is studied in "Computer Science Dept." is not really the computer hardware itselt. It is the software. Why don't you work in mechanic shop instead of whining in computer area ? People will not complain about your hammer or chainsaw just because they are not user-friendly. :) :) :)