Mail Archives: djgpp/2000/04/24/14:14:17
Eli Zaretskii wrote:
>
> On Sun, 12 Mar 2000, Damian Yerrick wrote:
>
> > >On Sat, 11 Mar 2000, Krogg wrote:
> > >
> > >> Well,It is alot easier for me to navigate html files
> > >
> > >Why is it easier? Info readers have the same commands for navigation
> > >as HTML browsers do.
> >
> > My browser (IE) uses backspace instead of l for "go to last document."
>
> Why is the different key important?
>
> > And where's the "back" button?
>
> That's the `l' command in Info.
>
> > Not the back key, the on-screen back button?
>
> I fail to see how a minor difference in user interface, such as
> different key bindings, make it harder to navigate.
It is because after a while, things become automatic, and
normal humans stop thinking about them. This is why (as far
as I know) all cars have the accelerator on the right, and the
clutch (if any) on the left, and the brake peddle more or less
in the middle. If you have been driving a car like that
for years, trying to drive a car with a different user interface
will lead to all sorts of errors. When I want to go back to
the previous page, I just think about what I want to do, and
the typing (or mouse movement) happens automatically.
My guess is that you, Eli, experience this yourself when using info.
That is great for folks that have been using info for years, but
for those of us raised on a different hypertext viewer, info comes
as a shock. Very much like trying to drive a car by steering with
our feet and accelerating and braking by moving our head.
Sure anyone can learn to do it. But why would anyone want to?
You are right when you say that most html browsers are crude.
They are, no question about it, but if you want to convert us,
you have to make the transition easy. Right now the transition
is so difficult most of us give up in frustration.
Dennis Yelle
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