On 12/05/2011 10:42 AM, Anton Aylward wrote:
But "complexity". The Americans almost always complained about the European signs. These signs are very consistent: the colour and the shape tell you a lot. But except for direction signs they don't have words. (Well, lets not get into arguments about Wales, OK?) so how can the Americans know what they mean? They generally told me that European signage was "too complex". What they meant was that it was "different".
This one resonates with me. There can be different paradigms on which systems are built. Think of Windows and UNIX. But regarding street signs, take one-way street signs. Back in the day the sign consisted of a big arrow pointing in the direction of traffic flow. It was a "do this" kind of a thing. But some decades ago the US adopted "International" signage in which an arrow pointed opposite the direction of traffic with a circle and a line through the arrow. This is a "don't do this" kind of a thing. For years my mind was geared on the "do this" signage and it took conscious effort to think in the "don't do this" paradigm. This could lead to a broader discussion of US/European differences but I don't think we need to go there. :-) Regards, Lew -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org