Blog: 
Aug
Jul
It's Raining Hardware
Jun
We've all thrown up our fists in frustration at our computers, but apparently a 51-year old
German fellow went to greater extremes. After a particularly unbearable session, the user
heaved his computer out the window onto the pavement below. He escaped prosecution
due to sympathetic police. "Who hasn't felt like doing that?", the officer reportedly said.
Some times rebooting just isn't enough.
Computer hardware and software systems, unlike almost any other branch of technology, are
simultaneously the source of incredible gains in productivity and record high blood pressure.
The state of the user experience is so pathetic, it's been downgraded from crisis to comedy.
Software is too hard to use, everybody knows it, life goes on, blah, blah, blah. Even the police (the German
police no less) shrug off possible charges of endangering the public. Software has become
an exception the modern demand for convenience and usability.
This story rings of tragedy and opportunity. We are so accustomed to horrific software interfaces that
we've basically accepted their ramifications. New systems will require hours upon hours of
training. Software will crash; computers will need to be periodically rebooted. People will,
understandably, angrily hurl hardware out their window. So it goes. But at the same time,
we can create more usable systems. We can make software a joy to use instead of
a burden. We can prevent trails of electronic debris across sidewalks. What we must
do is focus our efforts on the hardest of all technical challenges: usability.
Would you like to leave a comment?
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