Reviews for The Invisible Computer: Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer is So Complex, and Information Appliances are the Solution

The average rating for The Invisible Computer: Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer is So Complex, and Information Appliances are the Solution based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-09-04 00:00:00 Martin Horn This book, written by the same author as "The Design of Everyday Things", is a really interesting look at computers, software and human-centered design in the late 1990's. The book is sub-titled "Why good products can fail, the personal computer is so complex, and information applicances are the solution.". This is a nice summary of the entire book. Norman begins by looking at previous inventions, including the phonograph, and the initial versions failed despite the fact that this versions were technologically superior to later successful incarnations. This happened because they failed to take into account the basic requirements of the user. He then looks at the current state of PC's and considers this in terms of a technology maturity, where a critical mass of users has now built up, such that to increase the user base, the next wave of users will need to be those who are not technologically proficient. These users have different demands for the technology, most specifically that they expect to buy applications to carry out tasks rather than the technology itself. Norman argues that because the PC has been designed to attempt to do everything for all users, it is fundamentally too complex to suit this next wave of users. He proposes a new type of device which will address the needs of these users - the "Information Appliance". Examples of these already exist in applications such as car computers and calculators. He points out that for wide-spread adoption/success of such devices, a cruicial last step will be for a standard for communications and information exchange between the devices will be required. He concludes the book by documenting the changes needed in organisations to carry out the Human Centered Design process that will be needed for such devices to emerge, and then provides details of what some of these devices may be like. It will be interesting to see how Norman's predictions pan out in the long term.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-01-22 00:00:00 Seri AlNajjar ----quote--- And guess what the most effective protest method is? Incisting on following procedures. If you have to add a sign that says push or pull, then this indicates that the door is not as simple as is possible; its design is faulty.