the web and other technology products: extensions of our lives
Last week I participated in a marketing research focus group that asked us to discuss our experience with Apple verses Microsoft program suites. Now, being that I have a big mouth and am an avid user of both, I had much to say on the topic. Sitting around the table listening to seven others the frustrations and emotional (dis)attachments to the specific products was fascinating.
Somewhere nearing hour 2 I had a breakthrough. Someone put into words what I’ve been attempting so muster up for years: “With Apple products, it is more like the everyday experiences we have. As if, on my actual desktop I just cut something out using scissors and then physically move it to where I want it to go. In real life I don’t need to explain why I’m moving an object to another area of my desk. No reformatting. No adjustments. Its just done. I feel like computers should function the same way, and with Apple’s ability to move content seamlessly through its multiple programs they’re working to simulate this experience.”
Whoa. So true. There is a reason I prefer EBSCOhost 2.0 to Dialog. Or that Zotero’s ability to be embedded into my browser is much more appealing than the clunckiness of RefWorks. It should just work–much the way I already work. I don’t want 20 steps to get me to my end goal–I don’t even want 5 easy steps–I want one step! I don’t want to have to learn have to navigate something completely new. My computer should work with me, not against me.
