From: Scott Weeks <weeksie@...>
Date: 2006-02-19T10:54:07+09:00
Subject: Re: Desktop apps written in Ruby?

I'm not interested in a flame war over interface design but I do want 
to point out something:

> You must deal with the most stupid people of the world then. I'm 
> talking
> about normal people.
>

If there's anything I've learned it's that end users, even technically 
literate ones, need all the help they can get. They are not "stupid" as 
such but they certainly can't be expected to be even proficient at 
operating a computer. Any step that takes a person farther away from 
what they expect damages their ability to use my software. If someone 
downloads a free trial and it "feels weird" or "looks funny" or doesn't 
perform as they expect it too then that's money out of my pocket, 
regardless of my opinion of their intelligence or how trivial I think 
the difference is between how my app works and what they expect.

Like I said earlier though, this sort of thing only applies to 
"shrinkwrap" style applications. Large industry specific apps and in 
house developed applications don't have the same requirements.