Hi all,

On 7/7/06, Dan Shafer <dan at shafermedia.com> wrote:
<snip />

> Why, after 30 years, does Squeak still appear to be a non-standard,
> almost toy-like user experience in the IDE? Is it the case that
> changing that would be far too complex to undertake? Or is it that
> the community of Squeak users just isn't largely motivated to worry
> about this subject? Or is the absence of an economic incentive the
> problem? Or IS there a problem?

Supposedly there is scientific evidence that visually pleasing things
actually work better (see
http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/emotion_design.html). It troubles me that
Squeak is so odd looking, but I have only had time enough to make
minor contributions in this arena.

I'm convinced Sueak's look is a primary driver that holds people back.
Imagine if it looked as sexy as some Flash sites you see these days on
the web.

Maybe we need to take Alan Kay up on his idea that Squeak should be
terminated and start over so we don't feel like it is such a
monumental chore to refactor Morphic into what we want it to be.

It might be better if Squeak had no UI -- then people wouldn't judge
it so quickly.

Regards,

John

-- 
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all
progress depends on the unreasonable man. -- George Bernard Shaw