• Reported by Nate

A previous post and comments has gotten me thinking about keyboard shortcuts and their relation to applicaiton interface usability. If we suppose that keyboard commands are the answer to effective power use computing (as reflected by Jason in his comment to this post); is this a sign of OS/program disservice to power users? Are there distinctions made between what is most usable for user types of various skill levels? I don't mean the typical newbie vs. computer litterate, I think of it as a varied spectrum with an oft ignored upper-range of those using an interface daily for years. There may be a connection to looking at how physical interfaces in the last century have changed from products designed for a lifetime of use to quick, cheap rapid production plastic bits which quite plainly won't survive normal use for more than a few years. Perhaps the super short life cycle of computer applications means that expecting them to be used for a few years is completely unrealistic. Even software applications which have become industry standards are drastically evolving from version to version (why else would we buy them?). So many interfaces via the boom of electronic devices, muliplied by so many interfaces via the boom of computers, multiplied by so many interfaces from the internet boom - are we working towards a landscape of interaction designed for initial, sporadic and short term use? Take a look at this 1924 radio, a beautiful interface which in materials and quality could last many more lifetimes, and in usability caters to simplicity rather than previous exposure and context, and all this without punishing the experienced user. It seems that as antique radios gained more features and popularity rose, competition centered around who could build with the most quality, durability and beauty (and then came the transistor). Now it seems that interfaces are yanked out faster than paper towels at chicken wing joint, and a complex layering of interface inside interface inside interface, all with differing usage models keeps a large number of folks from getting past computer "literacy" except out of the necessity of daily use. Form should follow function, but in an environment of a thousand functions, complex vectors of context and motivation, a heaping helping of technical choices and powerful degenerative economic biases - how can we hope to swim upstream?