🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <58...@bbn.BBN.COM> cos...@bbn.com (Bernie Cosell) writes:
>d...@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au (David Anderson) writes:
>
>}In article <10353@stiatl.UUCP> tok@stiatl.UUCP (Terry Kane) writes:
>}>
>}>How about a user, confronted by a typical "press any key" message,
>}>calling tech support complaining...
>}>
>}>	But I don't have an ANY key on my keyboard!
>}>
>}>-- 
>
>}Yes! I've had a user complain about not having an 'ANY' key.
>
>}So, I said to her "Pick a key .. any key you like!"
>
>}She pressed the SHIFT key ... and (you guessed it) nothing happened.
>
>}I had to then try and explain to her why she couldn't use the 
>}SHIFT , CTRL and CAPS LOCK keys.
>
>And of course, after you reflect on it there is hardly any reason to be so
>'helpful' and make the program so general, instead of simply having it read
>  "And then hit the space bar"
>and be done with it -- no ambiguity, no confusion, no nothing...

... until you find the keyboard in pieces.  Waybackwhen, when the Apple II's
and PET computers were starting to come out, in Berkeley, the Lawrence
Hall of Science (just above the UC campus and the LBL), a sort of hands-on
science museum had strings of them sitting on tables, where people would
pay a buck or two to spend an hour in front of them, playing games or
whatever.  This was just before the idea of personal computers was considered
a reality to the laypeople.

Anyway, you would have been astounded at the number of people who saw the
message "Hit any key to continue", and actually SLAMMING their hands down
on they keys!

Later, those in charged noticed this trend and spend a couple days running
through their software changing all instances of 'hit' to 'press'.

>
>  /bernie\

	'stair

-- 
Alastair Sutherland, Computing Services Projects Guy, The Santa Cruz Operation
alas...@sco.com (E-I-E-I-O)  - or -  uunet!sco!alastair  - or - (408) 425-7222

       Theory is close to practice more often in theory than in practice.