Computer patois

I worked on a PC today for the first time since I converted to Macs four years ago or so. The experience was a bit like travelling around the inland towns of Jamaica - you're pretty sure that the communication you're being offered is related to your native language, but at the same time it feels like you've just had a minor stroke. You're picking up every third word or so, and you long for a more familiar format or a swifter acculturation so you could catch more of what's going on.

On top of that, all of the Office programs I encountered were clearly of a generation beyond those I'd worked on in the past. It's a generation that, were it a person, would probably enjoy shopping at the Mall of America: the commands have a circus-y feel to them, busy and circuitous when a simple drop-down menu would do. Nonintuitiveness was the watchword of the day: want to get to "Save"? Sorry, you'll have to go through the food court first.

Macs may be relatively expensive and carry an unnecessary mystique, but I can recommend one to my octogenarian father-in-law with some confidence that most of its functions will come to him naturally. After today, I can't say the same for PCs.

Comments

[Daughter Number Three]

I'm using a Windows box to access the Internet this week while out of town. It is strange, but not too bad. I helped my parents set up a way to download photos from their new digital camera, and was surprised that it works well and isn't too complicated. However, when I went to move a bunch of photos from one folder to another, it too a little while to find the special command for moving things -- there is no drag and drop (since I couldn't figure out a way to see the contents of one folder while also being able to see the folder I wanted to drop them into). This seemed pretty stupid. But possibly I was missing something.