3.1186 polyglot's lament; software psych; mfm scanning (82)
Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@vm.epas.utoronto.ca)
Mon, 19 Mar 90 20:55:53 EST
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 1186. Monday, 19 Mar 1990.
(1) Date: Mon, 19 Mar 90 04:33:54 EST (34 lines)
From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu
Subject: Re:polyglot's lament (52)
(2) Date: Sun, 18 Mar 90 08:25:00 EST (13 lines)
From: Stephen.Page@prg.oxford.ac.uk
Subject: Psychology of Everyday Things (Re 3.1177)
(3) Date: 16 Mar 90 21:39:58 EST (7 lines)
From: James O'Donnell <JODONNEL@PENNSAS>
Subject: scanning from microfilm
(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 90 04:33:54 EST
From: David.A.Bantz@mac.dartmouth.edu
Subject: Re:polyglot's lament (52)
In addition to multiple fonts (and there are hundreds readily available
for the Mac, supporting virtually every language), multi-language
processing needs flexible mapping of characters to keyboard layouts,
arbitrary "dead" keys, support for right to left as well as left to
right typing, and a variety of string comparison routines to accomodate
the conventions of different languages. The Mac, surprisingly, does
support all of these features, but does not automatically switch
resources (keyboard layouts, string comparison routines, etc.) based on
font changes alone. Still, given the near-total lack of support on
other platforms, the Mac design is strikingly good on this score.
Even more surprising, given its design largely by former Macintosh
designers, is the total lack of such multi-lingual support on the NeXT
machine. There is NO low level support, even for the simple expedient
of including accented characters from Western European languages which
the Macintosh supported in its very first incarnation six(?!) years ago.
The fonts are Postscript, so you can "create" your own characters and
see them displayed and printed in applications you control, but this is
just the sort of non-portable idiosyncatic application-level hack that
Goerwitz rightly deplores.
--- Richard L. Goerwitz (goer@sophist.uchicago.edu) wrote:
...a Mac is the best thing going right now for multi-lingual processing
just because the designers had the sense to design the operating system
so that it offers low-level support for multiple fonts. No need to hack
everything separately....I pray for the day when I can afford to put a
NeXT on my desk, and have the time to develop the software I need for
that environment.
It's an imperfect world, and it's time for MS-DOS users (like me) to
admit that they have turned down an alley which dead ends...
--- end of quoted material ---
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------20----
Date: Sun, 18 Mar 90 08:25:00 EST
From: Stephen.Page@prg.oxford.ac.uk
Subject: Psychology of Everyday Things (Re 3.1177)
I heartily agree with the suggestion by Tracy Logan (3.1177) that Donald
Norman's book is worth reading. I recommend it as mandatory reading for
all software engineers (along with Brooks's Mythical Man-Month). It
helps designers to develop an awareness of interfaces in all things, not
just computers. To give another quote from Norman (not word-for-word,
as I don't have my copy here) : If a device as simple as a door has to
have an instruction manual, even a one-word manual (e.g. "PUSH"), then
it is poorly designed.
If only more designers developed an instinct for effortless interfaces...
(3) --------------------------------------------------------------12----
Date: 16 Mar 90 21:39:58 EST
From: James O'Donnell <JODONNEL@PENNSAS>
Subject: scanning from microfilm
From: Jim O'Donnell (Classics, Penn)
Interested to hear that it can be done: but what's the accuracy?