Tablet UI requires steep learning curve, says Apple employee
Everyone who’s seen the tablet’s user interface has said it will surprise users. Now, there’s an Apple worker bee saying that we all should be ready for a steep learning curve.
Quoting a reader who said he heard it from an Apple employee, Cult of Mac writes that the rumors we’ve been reading for some time that Apple’s tablet user interface will be quite different are more than true. In fact, using the tablet is going to require learning new skills.
I just heard [to] be ready for a steep learning curve regarding the “new†Apple product about to be released [and its] interface. This person is an employee of Apple and had just had a meeting regarding some of the new things coming. He/She would not go into details, but did say that he/she hoped we liked learning.â€
That said, when was the last time you successfully learned a new user interface skill? Aside from two-finger browser scrolling, I’ve been using the same odd hundred — give or take a few score — keyboard and mouse skills since Mac OS 9.
Moreover, like a lot of people, I haven’t bonded with Apple’s Mighty or Magic Mouse products simply because they’re just different enough that I don’t enjoy using them. Which is to say, my work habits aren’t as broken as these two so-called mice make them in the name of improving my workflow.
Yes, I can imagine a better world where interacting with my Mac is easier and more natural, but neither of those input devices are part of that future. It’s not too difficult to imagine a better iPhone interface.
However, where the twain lies in this case — it’s obviously going to be more than a really big iPod touch and isn’t going to be particularly Mac-like either — is another matter entirely…
What’s your take?
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January 6th, 2010
Only old people find new stuff hard to learn.
If your so old that you cant take the time to learn something new, then dont buy it, and dont post crap reviews saying how hard it is to use when its just because you couldnt be stuffed to learn how.
January 7th, 2010
I suspect that older people with established patterns for using equipment like this are *not* Apple’s first target audience: once you get today’s high school seniors and college freshmen on board with a UI, yours because the “default” UI for that generation (with the bonus of “coolness factor”). Other competitive-product makers typically have to emulate whatever Apple comes out with (cf. iPods, iPhone, touch, etc.). I’m not seeing anything particularly innovative coming out of Microsoft at CES just yet, so I think the UI may well be Apple’s differentiating feature this year.