Design Considerations for an Anthropophilic Computer (1979)
web.stanford.edu
web.stanford.edu
> If the computer must be opened for any reason other than repair (for which our prospective user must be assumed incompetent) even at the dealer's, then it does not meet our requirements.
This is why we're no longer able to open up a Macbook and extend its memory or storage - or even repair anything ourselves.
It assumes the user is incompetent, and takes away all power except for the minimum necessary to operate the given appliance. I'd argue such a machine is not really a general-purpose personal computer at all.
> Seeing the guts is taboo. Things in sockets is taboo (unless to make servicing cheaper without imposing too large an initial cost).
Show me the guts, and let me put things in sockets, as Woz intended. (Maybe more true of Apple I/II than Macintosh.) Give me complete control of my computer, top to bottom.
> ..Large manuals, or many of them (large manuals are a sure sign of bad design) is taboo. Self-instructional programs are NOT taboo.
We should serve the full spectrum of users, from the non-technical beginner to the expert who will benefit from a large detailed manual.
The Canon Cat - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33285665 - Oct 2022 (119 comments)