[olpc-software] AbiWord, HIG

[Alan Kay]

Hi --

At 11:09 AM 3/15/2006, Mike Hearn wrote:
>On Wed, 2006-03-15 at 10:17 -0800, Alan Kay wrote:
> > Yep, but do we now require people to download FireFox? That would 
> surely be
> > a harder sell than getting them to download a plugin that will work in the
> > browser they are using. We already do that.
>
>I think it'd be an easier sell really. It's a well known, professionally
>marketed brand, and Microsoft have disabled ActiveX so it's no longer
>easier to install plugins than applications. Also some people already
>have Firefox, and it gives immediate end-user benefits other than
>platform features.
>
>There are also lots of developers familiar with the web, and lots of
>documentation.

Good idea, but school districts, etc. don't agree.


> > Given that the web came after 1990, one wonders why its shapers were so
> > unable to understand what was already being done for and by end-users
>
>Hindsight is always 20-20 ;)

What hindsight? This is why I referenced Engelbart, etc.

>Maybe you should ask Tim BL?

He was the smaller part of the problem and was touchingly contrite about 
not checking and heeding prior art. His main mistake was to try to go to a 
too simple lingua franca reverting to the markup languages of the 60s long 
after much better enduser UIs had been devised.

It was the Mosaic folks who made the big goof (or maybe they were lazy 
and/or expedient ...) . In any case, no excuse and no hindsight here.

Cheers,

Alan



>thanks -mike