Thursday, November 26, 2009

Time for Next Interface


My eight years old comes home one day and tells me that she is learning typewriting
in school. Learning is conducted in an online-game setting, so it's supposed to be fun as well. I could tell from her facial expression. It reminds me of when I first learn typewriting. I was in secondary, but my school does not have computer. I have to attend class in a community centre. If learning to use keyboard in front of the green monitor isn't tedious enough, the class is managed by a computer system (aka LMS nowadays) instead of a person. I think I quit after a week.

Whoever invents keyboard with computer is an engineering genius, but an interface-design idiot in my opinion (no offense). Keyboard takes two hands to operate, and it is good in very few task, like documenting, but poor in anything else, like record instruction or brainstorming. It does not cope well with raw data, that is data with no order and meaning. The later arrival of mouse pointer interface is an instant success simply because it takes one less hand to operate (frees up the other). Still, it could only be used in compliment, not replacement, to keyboard.

I'm all for computer-keyboard replacement. It shows aged when handling vast data size and looking for meaning, or meta data. It also prejudices against people with vision-impaired and/or illiterate. So for those live in poverty, it is digital-divide in one-two punches.

No comments: