20110130
20110116
Processes stopping innovation
A friend of mine from work linked to A culture of testing a few days ago and it got me thinking...
Agile and TDD doesn't only discourage people from trying things they cannot test in their preferred manner but reinforces the idea that some solutions are not worth trying.
When Apple started to add mice to their systems they had no way to do this in a testable, or even loosely coupled manner. They didn't have the infrastructure to make it a modular part of the system that way as later PCs would, yet is was one of their defining moves in the early days. (if you are a hardware geek, check out the story here)
Most people understand that there are limitations to what can be tested when you get to the hardware level, but if you back up a bit in the history of the mouse there is a much more painful lesson to learn.
When Apple put out the Mac there was a thought that can best be summarized with this quote:
Apple didn't even invent the mouse, as the root idea of the mouse is from the early 1950's and the first identifiable mice came in around the mid 1960s and it was even a common accessory to some German computers at that time.
At the time, I would say Dvorak was right. There wasn't much software that really made good use of the mouse, and there wouldn't be for a while, even on the macs. You can debate if this is a chicken/egg problem, apple was just paving the way to the future, or they should have sold the mouse as an optional accessory, kept the arrow keys and prevented the wasd navigation from being introduced, but none of that is my point.
My point is that at some point between then and now, in some manner, was the right time to introduce the mouse as a mainstream computer input device and at no point between then and now would users that have never done input except with a keyboard have ever thought to have asked for anything remotely like it.
Letting the customer drive the product is a limiting and shortsighted approach from the point of view of innovation. Sometimes having the forethought to include a feature that the users don't understand, or don't need initially is what makes a product truly great. Even if you didn't like the mice and missed your arrow keys and kept the mouse put away on your first mac eventually you were glad you had one and glad that the base operating system knew what to do with one.
No user ever asked for that.
Agile and TDD doesn't only discourage people from trying things they cannot test in their preferred manner but reinforces the idea that some solutions are not worth trying.
When Apple started to add mice to their systems they had no way to do this in a testable, or even loosely coupled manner. They didn't have the infrastructure to make it a modular part of the system that way as later PCs would, yet is was one of their defining moves in the early days. (if you are a hardware geek, check out the story here)
Most people understand that there are limitations to what can be tested when you get to the hardware level, but if you back up a bit in the history of the mouse there is a much more painful lesson to learn.
When Apple put out the Mac there was a thought that can best be summarized with this quote:
San Francisco Examiner, John C. Dvorak, 19 February 1984 The nature of the personal computer is simply not fully understood by companies like Apple (or anyone else for that matter). Apple makes the arrogant assumption of thinking that it knows what you want and need. It, unfortunately, leaves the “why” out of the equation - as in “why would I want this?” The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse’. There is no evidence that people want to use these things.
Apple didn't even invent the mouse, as the root idea of the mouse is from the early 1950's and the first identifiable mice came in around the mid 1960s and it was even a common accessory to some German computers at that time.
At the time, I would say Dvorak was right. There wasn't much software that really made good use of the mouse, and there wouldn't be for a while, even on the macs. You can debate if this is a chicken/egg problem, apple was just paving the way to the future, or they should have sold the mouse as an optional accessory, kept the arrow keys and prevented the wasd navigation from being introduced, but none of that is my point.
My point is that at some point between then and now, in some manner, was the right time to introduce the mouse as a mainstream computer input device and at no point between then and now would users that have never done input except with a keyboard have ever thought to have asked for anything remotely like it.
Letting the customer drive the product is a limiting and shortsighted approach from the point of view of innovation. Sometimes having the forethought to include a feature that the users don't understand, or don't need initially is what makes a product truly great. Even if you didn't like the mice and missed your arrow keys and kept the mouse put away on your first mac eventually you were glad you had one and glad that the base operating system knew what to do with one.
No user ever asked for that.
20110109
So this happened the other day...
My son is 2, he is not getting a hydraulic power armor suit just yet. He is dangerous enough unassisted.
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