[OT] Microsoft Office's New UI Blazes Some New Trails for Us

[Scott Rossi]

Recently, jbv  wrote:

>> Actually, there is a difference: not how things *should* look but how things
>> *can* look.  Again, the premise is that users are more comfortable modifying
>> existing designs/layouts/templates, rather than starting from scratch.  The
>> template designers are giving users a starting point, which they can either
>> choose to use as is, or modify to their liking.
>> 
> 
> IMHO this is the kind of approach that works perfectly
> on paper, but not so well in real life...
> 
> Let's take the example of electronic music devices (synths,
> rhythm-boxes, etc). Since the mid 80's most of them come
> with numerous presets, but also with editors...
> I've been in touch with many musicians between the early
> 80's to the late 90's and I must say that very few of them
> took the time to learn how to program / edit / modify...
> Most of them seemed to be satisfied with presets, and used
> to sell the device and buy another (brand new) one once they
> got tired of the presets.
> It is true that UIs of this kind of gear were rather crappy (tiny
> LCDs), but anyway the vast creative possibility of some synths
> were really worth the effort of reading the manual and try to go
> beyond the presets (for example additive synthesis with the
> K5000).

I must be missing the point of your post.  MS claims to be providing more
templates and making the UI easier to use.  To use your example, they're
adding even more presets and converting the tiny LCD into a full color
display.  Whether they succeed remains to be seen, but the goal seems pretty
worthwhile to me.

I think it's perfectly understandable that the musicians you cite didn't
want to learn how to program the equipment.  I'll wager the majority of them
wanted to spend their time making music, not learning an arcane programming
language.  And yet that didn't stop many notable artists from making a name
for themselves and learning how to push music technology.

I will also wager that the upcoming Office Suite, just like many current
Macromedia/Adobe products, will allow you launch the various apps without
using a template -- in essence, starting with a blank page.

I have to say I don't see how having more choices can be seen as a negative.

Regards,

Scott Rossi
Creative Director
Tactile Media, Multimedia & Design
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