Welcome back to 2001! (OS X nitpicking)

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
MacSurfer found this blog entry from an OS 9/Windows user, Matthew Thomas, who just now got into this OS X thing. He has a list of inconsistencies, some of which I chalk up to curmudgeonliness and some of which are actually pretty good catches that I hadn't noticed. It was kind of funny to see one of these posts pop up this late in the game, too. I remember when two out of three reactions to OS X looked something like this.



Anyway, have at it.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    whoa, i totally have been annoyed with a lot of those, i hope someone gets that to Apple.
  • Reply 2 of 23
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Those are extremely subtle yet valid and important things Apple shouldn't just look at, but actually needs to fix. I also hope this gets to Apple, I think I'll mail it. Hopefully for 10.4?
  • Reply 3 of 23
    I would like to direct everyone to read my signature, please.



    "The small inconsistencies in Mac OS X really stand out because most of the OS is close to perfect perfect. In Windows and Linux, the entire OS is inconsistent, so you don't notice the small mistakes. Hell, any Windows user would think we were crazy to bitch about this." - Barto, post#517248
  • Reply 4 of 23
    Many valid points, but I have to disagree vehemently with this one regarding a behavior in Safari:



    Quote:

    Clicking once in the address field does not do what people want 99 percent of the time, which is selecting the address so it can be replaced by typing a new one. (This can be done without interfering with those who want to select only part of the address, as demonstrated by Firefox and by Internet Explorer for Mac.)



    I really hate this behavior in other browsers. I usually click-drag in the address field to select foo.html and replace it with bar.html or to correct a typo. If I want to enter a new address, I hit Apple-L on the keyboard.



    Besides, isn't there something in the HIG about clicking once positioning the cursor, clicking twice to select a "word" and clicking three times to select a whole line? This is how things should work throughout the OS and Safari does certainly adhere to this behavior -- which seems the right and consistent thing to do. I'm surprised the author missed this one considering his clear understanding of the value of consistency within human-computer interfaces.
  • Reply 5 of 23
    Quote:

    Originally posted by aecheylon

    Many valid points, but I have to disagree vehemently with this one regarding a behavior in Safari:







    I really hate this behavior in other browsers. I usually click-drag in the address field to select foo.html and replace it with bar.html or to correct a typo. If I want to enter a new address, I hit Apple-L on the keyboard.



    Besides, isn't there something in the HIG about clicking once positioning the cursor, clicking twice to select a "word" and clicking three times to select a whole line? This is how things should work throughout the OS and Safari does certainly adhere to this behavior -- which seems the right and consistent thing to do. I'm surprised the author missed this one considering his clear understanding of the value of consistency within human-computer interfaces.




    I know exactly what you mean, Though I hate reaching for my keyboard and use my mouse for almost anything, so I click just below the text when I want to select the entire bar, or if I am in a hurry I will quickly tripple click the text...
  • Reply 6 of 23
    You can click once on the favicon to select the entire address bar text too.



    edit: by the way, this is the same Matthew Thomas that used to write about usability on the Mozilla project: http://mpt.phrasewise.com/



    Now that Firefox is maturing people may forget the crazy amount of effort it took for Mozilla contributers to admit that their UI was utterly borked.
  • Reply 7 of 23
    stevesteve Posts: 523member
    I thought that article he linked to at Ars Tech was pretty interesting. Perhaps that is why Apple is moving away from presenting information with the file system, and on to more visual, hierarchy-neutral interpretations of data, like iPhoto and iTunes. And now that we have the search bar on Finder windows, it really does eliminate searching through nested folders, and I expect it only to get better once we get all that metadata goodness in there.
  • Reply 8 of 23
    sc_marktsc_markt Posts: 1,401member
    I'd also like to know what he liked about OS X.
  • Reply 9 of 23
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    He thinks that is nit picking...people on these boards have heart attacks over widget misplacements of a pixel! Although I have to say I like having people like that around, a perfect OS X is a perfect OS X, and you need people to notice things like that.
  • Reply 10 of 23
    i don't know about the iBook but I know clicking the mouse button wakes my G5 up.
  • Reply 11 of 23
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    He thinks that is nit picking...people on these boards have heart attacks over widget misplacements of a pixel! Although I have to say I like having people like that around, a perfect OS X is a perfect OS X, and you need people to notice things like that.



    true but how is a pixel off widget ever going to effect those people's workflow other than make you waste your time posting the info to everyone.
  • Reply 12 of 23
    Quote:

    Pressing any key on the keyboard will wake the computer from sleep, but clicking the mouse button will not.



    Works fine on my G4 iMac...



    Quote:

    Some windows use a brushed metal appearance, while others do not. This distinction exists for no apparent reason.



    I have no idea why Apple chooses this GUI appearance inconsistency.
  • Reply 13 of 23
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Brad

    I would like to direct everyone to read my signature, please.



    Damnit, there needs to be a smiley that's a combination of happy and embarrassed!



    Thanks Brad for helping boost my reputation over the last couple of months I've been in your signature.



    (I should probably stop basing my self-worth over what people think of me in a web forum, though )



    Barto
  • Reply 14 of 23
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Dale Sorel

    I have no idea why Apple chooses this GUI appearance inconsistency.



    It may not be inconsistent...



    Brushed-metal interface reference in Apple's HIG
  • Reply 15 of 23
    Interesting, Beethoven, I never thought Quicktime and Safari... how does Apple put it... "Provide(s) a source list to navigate information" ()

    Let alone Calculator, etc etc...



    It's a pretty ridiculous distinction to make, regardless of even whether it is true or not (which it isn't). Apple should provide one, consistent UI, not this brushed metal/Aqua bullshit. Trying to justify this bizarre, inexcusable behavior after the fact with hokey distinctions (that are not justified or consistent) comes across as disingenuous. IMHO.



    BTW, I believe the blog guy was referring to clicking the trackpad, as clicking my mouse button (not trackpad) does indeed wake the computer (to my annoyance!).
  • Reply 16 of 23
    pfflampfflam Posts: 5,053member
    This guys nitpickyness is unbelievable . . . I thought it was bordering on near-autistic then I noticed another cataloguing thing that he had on his web-site titled Things Dunedin has more of than Nelson

  • Reply 17 of 23
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Some of his nitpicks, while a good observation, are things that I think are appropriate. Case and point, the skinny scroll bar in the iChat buddy window. Now I understand that this is inconsistent with the rest of the OS, but most of us format that window to be tall and skinny. A normal-width scroll bar would take up too much space for the buddy list.



    That was only one of a few that I noticed that I said to myself, "So? It's actually more functional that way."
  • Reply 18 of 23
    Wow, that guy quoted Winston Churchill's statement about democracy to describe Mac OS X's UI...and I've done the same thing?



    Guess I need to get out more often.
  • Reply 19 of 23
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Wow! I must say, I much prefer being my mellow-ish, easily-pleased self than to be this aware of everything.







    How does he get through a regular day?



    "I noticed that the cap on the tube of Crest doesn't completely screw down to the shoulder of the tube. There is approximately a 2mm gap...".



    "This morning's Pop-Tart had quite a few more sprinkles in the upper left portion than yesterday's. Kellogg's QC is obviously not what it used to be."



    "I noticed, while placing the Trojan condom on my penis, that there was an unbalanced number of ribs running along the right side, compared to the left."



  • Reply 20 of 23
    kickahakickaha Posts: 8,760member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pscates

    "I noticed, while placing the Trojan condom on my penis, that there was an unbalanced number of ribs running along the right side, compared to the left."



    "Sir, in light of your recent QC notification, our research unit has the following conclusion:



    Your penis curves, and is faulty. Please contact the manufacturer for a possible recall.



    Thank you,

    Trojan Condoms"
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