[plug] Oxymoron: Microsoft, innovation

[Mark J Gaynor]

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 18/06/2006 at 9:03 AM Alex Polglaze wrote:

>> It does, but that is not the point. It is a lot of unnecessary messing 
>> round when another program can do the same job more efficiently.
>>  
>> My argument is why should I have to open another spreadsheet just to add

>> some basic data to what I already have. OOo is not that flexible is it. 
>> It is called usability. As good as the app may be it fails on that 
>> point. You are saying that to import basic data I have to make the 
>> process more complex than it needs to be. The concept of any app is to 
>> make the process as simple as possible for the operator, unless I have 
>> missed something. Adding more layers to perform any task fails that 
>> concept. Therefore OOo fails me in that task. The other program has more

>> usability and that is the basis of the argument.
>>  
>> Open source developers fail to see things from the user point of view 
>> and only see it from a programming perspective.
>>  
>> Why does OOo not import basic CSV data?
>
>I agree 100% with Mark. We have been using Lotus 123 since the mid 80's
>and started to 
>move to OO several years ago. OO has a long way to go the catch up to 123
>for ease of use 
>and yes we use 123 to import csv data and manipulate it before saving as
>an OO spreadsheet.
>
>He is also right about productivity. If you use computers to make money
>then you want the 
>fastest way of doing things. If a product can't do what you want
>efficiently, then you 
>must find something that can.
>
>Forget about ideology and pure unadulterated computing, time is money and
>that is the nub 
>of the matter.

And the sooner the Opensource community get this point the sooner
opensource
will be taken up. Wen you take your case to management, they look at it
firstly
from a productivity view if it fails that you have a lost the battle. Why
would you 
still have to keep the old program round if the new one is the one to kill
for. It
just does not make any sense to me. 

The other thing the ideaists need to recognize is most people don't want to
have to use two programs to do a task, when one will do all they want, the
way they want. The whole point of introducing a new program is to improve
productivity. The new program has to do everything that is being done now
and give you new options/facilities, not less.

I think the problem could be one of the developers have not worked in the
real world or have little knowledge how people interface with computers
and their work in the real world. I feel the developers are getting youmger
and younger with the result of little real world experience, call it
WISDOM.

I'm not dumping on the younger set, I just think that because it is new it
has to be better, one does not follw the other.

I can still remember the battles that took place over which word
processor was the best. It got to the stage where everyone was
doing everything you could and the only changes were cosmetic,
and that does not make your work any better or allow you to be
more productive.

Mark
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