John Andersen wrote:
Well said. Part of this is due to natural human tendency to build up inventions adding function after feature till they become so hideously overburdened with seldom used features that the original purpose become almost lost to history.
Seldom used features? It surprises me if anyone can decide on behalf of others what these others need. I own one of the more advanced digital SLR's on the market - the Canon EOS 1D III. But for me, it is lacking in some ways. It lacks built-in GPS function, it lacks an intervalometer/time exposure unit. Which should by the way be radio controlled. As it is, these functions can only be added by buying expensive additional equipment. Moreover, there is hardly any such thing as "seldom used." What I (or you, or Carol) may not regularly use, Roger, Kathy and Priscilla will need. In other words, each user may not use the whole spectrum of functions, but we do not use the /same/ functions.
Cameras and cellphones come to mind. Cars too, electrical starters and all.
The more I learn to use my camera, the more I appreciate its functionality, and the more I would like even more. I also have two cell phones: The Nokia E50 and E51. I had to buy add-on recorders and alarm programs because the built-in versions were not up to the task, but the E51 has more and better functions. Even so, these phones have no way to save SMS messages to plain text or PDF's directly. There is no such thing as "excess functionality." If an individual does not need a particular function, and it is clear as pure crystal that people do not all use the /same/ functions, s/he simply does not use it. That does not warrant others drawing sweeping conclusions about "superfluous" functions. As I pointed out before, my computer experience and my productivity was hardly improved when Konqueror 4 lost its ability to extract meta data at a simple click of a mouse. And it is very hard to understand that the removal of possibilities can make things easier. What makes things easier, is configurability, choice and tailoring to one's specific needs.
When we can press a button on the way out the door and have a car appear before we get to the curb, and then merely announce our destination in plain language perhaps we will have both the cars and the computers that best server our real needs. We will then have time to figure out what all those options on our cellphones and cameras are for.
That actually becomes a nice philosophical point - but an optimally fruitful approach might be to accept that difference and choice are parts of existence, and above all that it is good that they exist. Apart from that, the more one uses something the more one appreciates the existence of various options. I fail to see any sense in deliberately limiting the choices of others. Per Inge Oestmoen -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org