20120407/Raskin vs Engelbart: Difference between revisions

I am no academic, this is just a hobbyist characterization that may only be roughly useful.

I met [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jef_Raskin Jef Raskin] briefly around 2000, he was giving out copies of his book [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Humane_Interface The Humane Interface]. Raskin (who died in 2005) was one of the creators of the original Apple Macintosh, and a proponent of an appliance idea of computing. For every application, the computer interface changes to become the simplest, most straightforward representation of a particular use. So, if an app is for controlling a toaster, we pretend the computer is not a computer, but rather it's a toaster, and model those well-understood controls on the screen. To pop the toast, "click" on the on-screen lever. For every new application, an entirely use-appropriate usage model may be used. The advantage is, if you're familiar with the appliance, it's very easy to use.<br class="cleared" />

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Engelbart Douglas Engelbart] is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Engelbart#Career_and_accomplishments profound contributor] to technology, envisioning and creating early models of many of the most important features of modern computing decades before they became mainstream. In my interpretation of his approach, particularly after reading the excellent book [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_the_Dormouse_Said What the Dormouse Said], is that we should treat the computer as a computing device, that offers re-usable facilities across all applications. In an exaggerated Engelbart toaster application, there'd be a menu option for "Operations" (common to all similar in all applications) with an option to "Pop toast." The disadvantage is, you have to learn the common facilities.<br class="cleared" />