On Fri, Oct 1, 2010 at 10:30 PM, Sinner from the Prairy <sinnerbofh@gmail.com> wrote:
Fabrice Facorat wrote:

> 2010/10/1 Romain d'Alverny
> <rdalverny@gmail.com>:
(...)
>> Both (substance, appearance) are crucial. If you only consider one
>> without balancing, making it consistent with the other, you're not
>> going down the right path. The interface, the whole experience with it
>> is the product.
>
> sure, but appearance is the key point.
>
> Archos is a good example of what we should not do ...
>
> I'm still amazed by the technicals limits of the iPhone, and how
> people can still want to buy them ... same for iPod ...
>
> iPod : no mp3, no FM radio, no USB mass storage support
> iPhone : no standard visio, no ability to create without iTunes or
> third party tools photo albums, less capable facebook integration, no
> FM radio, no flash,  and so on ...

iProducts don't have all the bullet points, all the technical specs that an
UberGeek would like.

But the ones they have: work great, are integrated with the rest of the
ecosystem, are user-friendly and they are aesthetically pleasant.

By focusing on 90% of specs and getting them to be 95% perfect, instead of
having 100% of specs and getting them to be just 50% workable, regular
people (95% of the population) like their products.

Apple's approach mimics the Unix philosophy (every small tool covers a task
extremely well, and integrates with the rest of the Unix system): every
single technical bullet point included does a task extremely well with the
rest of the tools and look'n'feel.

Mandriva tries that, with look'n'feel consistent on MCC, KDE and Gnome.
draketools work on TUI or GUI. They work well.

IMHO, Mageia should improve on Mandriva, not try to get just "bullet points"
on what our distro does.

Let's pick our battles, go the Unix way, make sure what Mageia does, it does
very well. And as Linux is Linux is Linux is Linux, it will do everything
else as well (and the kitchen sink).


Salut,
Sinner


IMHO, a home user would have one major DE, KDE or Gnome or other. I think it is unlikely to change it (maybe once in 10 years). The key in appearance is to have a nice aspect in each DE rather be the same look in Gnome or KDE or other. I guess that each environment will fit some user's taste in its native look.
The Drake tools must be cross DE and consistent.
Mac OS is an unix derivative. I love their look and ergonomy. They have a serious team of ergonomists and designers. This is what a Linux distro needs to be successful. i.e. Mageia. The IMHO, Apple products are too expensive, a regular PC at the same performance and of a acceptable quality offers the same for a half of the price. And you could renew it faster for the same money. Their apps are brilliant from usability point of view and very good looking. They focus on a very limited hardware in variety. This is their advantage. Their hardware is also the best in quality (this is why they cost so much also). I prefer open source though.