Splotch, Dramatic & Otherwise

    Elliot sent me a link to a long boring rant about what's wrong with the latest version of Windows. One of the complaints voiced was that the user interface was not consistent from one application to another. I suppose if I were using the new version of Windows and I still used any Windows programs that might bother me, but I don't, so I don't really care.
    We watched all three seasons of Downton Abbey last month. The first season was great, but after that the story line started to fall apart to the point that when we get to the end we are just getting splotches of drama that are only hung together by the characters. Pretty sad state of affairs.
    The same thing happened with Damages. That one started off a little more hare brained, but it soon spiraled into a psychotic nightmare. Dramatic and possibly entertaining, but the long term story line was basically non-existent. I happened to come across a current episode when I was channel surfing in Iowa and it was down right pitiful.
    Not all TV serial dramas suffer this fate. We are still watching The Good Wife and I have no complaints. Could it be they have a stronger story line, better writers, or more discipline? I dunno.
    What has all this got to do with Windows? Bear with me for a minute.
    Back when Windows was first gaining traction one of the lines you would hear when people were talking about the user interface is "it is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer". This got to be a running joke, because sometimes it was obvious, and sometimes it wasn't. Sometimes it was the exact opposite of obvious, and it didn't really matter whether you were steeped in the Windows experience, or a complete novice. Some things just hit people the right way and they were able to easily figure out how to get the program to do what they wanted, and sometimes it was completely opaque.
    What I have found is that when it comes to getting something done it is often quicker and easier to do it the way you know how, even if it is cumbersome and awkward, then to try and figure out the combination of keystrokes and button pushes that will allow you to do it the "quick and easy" way. I think this is why we sometimes run into customer service people typing hundreds of keystrokes into a terminal in order to effect a simple request. They have only learned enough about the system to do things one way, they have not taken the time (or maybe not had the training) to learn all the in's and out's of that particular system. And can you blame them? It's not like anyone will really appreciate any extra effort on their part. Well, that depends on the manager.
   Anyway, for most people it doesn't matter whether the user interface is consistent across multiple programs. They are only going to use one program. They will learn how to do the one thing they need to do and completely ignore all the rest of the wonderful software that is installed on their machine. They got the computer to do that one thing, they've learned how to do that one thing and they are happy. They don't want to learn any more about it, they have a real life to live.
   A similar kind of thing is going on with the TV shows. Viewers have gotten to know the character, they tune in to see how that character behaves, they get a little splotch of drama centered on their character and they are happy. They don't need no steenking story, they just need some emotional impact.
    This is why Facebook, Twitter and Texting have become so popular, they are catering to people's emotional need for constant interplay. I was going to say communication, but I'm pretty sure that's not what is going on there.