Comments on: Average Users Aren’t Idiots (We Don’t Live In Narnia and Your Friends Aren’t Talking Otters)

By: Solaera Web Design

Solaera Web Design — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 06:39:21 +0000

[...] Weems at CSSquirrel has put this the best of any post I’ve seen so [...]

By: ppjm

ppjm — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:08:53 +0000

iPad = nothing but heavy marketing to trendy folk – doesn’t solve any real world problem

By: Dan Hallock

Dan Hallock — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:59:01 +0000

Perhaps you did your central point a slight disservice by opening and closing your article with iPad commentary. But you are very much correct — average users are not idiots, and we as an industry need to come to grips with that fact. There is far too much condescension and far too little real focus on the inherent usability issues that permeate both tech products and the way we talk about them. (It’s better than it used to be, though.)

By: Trevor Gerzen

Trevor Gerzen — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:14:06 +0000

I agree with you. That wasn’t meant to be a shot at you for writing this blog post. I respect you, your work and your opinions as I would hope you would respect mine.

By: Kyle Weems

Kyle Weems — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:46:41 +0000

@Trevor – When it’s clear that people are being disrespectful, and being applauded for it, I don’t think it’s a waste of time to call them out for that. That’s how some of these “average users aren’t us” posts have gone.

If posts defending the product of a corporation are more important than posts defending the intelligence of my friends and family, then I don’t want to be identified with the “geeks” that claim the former matters more than the latter.

By: Trevor Gerzen

Trevor Gerzen — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 22:27:06 +0000

My comments were based on the last part of your post so I don’t see it as off-topic, rather just pinpointing one topic from the post.

You’re right. No one needs to be condescending in this matter. That point I agree with you 100%.

It’s a pretty trivial point to spend the time and effort on to write a blog post about or for that matter commenting on.

By: Kyle Weems

Kyle Weems — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:40:08 +0000

@Trevor – I personally think “restricted software” and “open technologies” aren’t compatible concepts. What good is open technology if you have to pay Apple a nickel every time you want to use it on their device?

This all goes away from my original point, which was and remains: average users aren’t idiots, and don’t deserve to be told what they don’t want by egotistical self-proclaimed geeks.

By: Trevor Gerzen

Trevor Gerzen — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:17:37 +0000

Yehuda Katz’s article ( http://yehudakatz.com/2010/01/27/the-irony-of-the-ipad-a-great-day-for-open-technologies/ ) says it really well:

“Ironically, despite claims that not allowing Flash or Java represent a victory for proprietary technologies and a loss for open technologies, they represent quite the opposite. By restricting the web platform on the iPhone and iPad to open, patent-free, technologies, Apple has created a highly desirable market for pure-HTML5 apps. This is, frankly, a win for supporters of open technologies.”

By: Kyle Weems

Kyle Weems — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:58:15 +0000

@Jin – The business decision angle of it, as it were, is something that deeply bothers me. As in, yes, I do want to listen to Pandora while browsing the web. No, I don’t want to pay $500+ for a device that requires me to to then buy more music from Apple if I want to do this.

From their standpoint, a closed application system is awesome, they get a cut from every App sold. But for me, that’s anathema. Decades of pushing towards more capable open devices only to reverse the trend to make Apple more money? No thanks.

By: Jin

Jin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:49:17 +0000

As I told you on Twitter, no multi-tasking is a business decision than technical. e.g. If I can run Pandora in the background, then i’d have less incentive to buy music from iTunes. etc.

I think it’s best not to compare iPad to iPhone/iTouch or any other tablet devices just yet. I’ll reserve my judgment until I actually hold one in my hand in the Apple store.

BUT, if I didn’t have a MBP already, iPad is something I’d purchase for myself. It’d be a couch/potty/bed/coffeshop device I use, for pure content consumption purpose.