Landed Us on the Moon Play Video MOON LANDING Apollo 11 Had a Hidden Hero: Software

WSJ ^ | 14 July 2019 | Robert Lee Hotz

[Jamestown1630]

I understand very little about the inner workings of computers. With the advent of GUI and the internet, I promptly forgot even what little I had learned about DOS and command-line interfacing.

But in recent years it has seemed to me that the software we used in the early days of personal computing was much more intuitive, thoughtful, user-friendly; sometimes ingenious, especially to someone like me. Even I have noticed things in some more recent programs that seemed really stupid - like a mistake that should have been caught by....someone... in the earliest testing phase.

[dfwgator]

But in recent years it has seemed to me that the software we used in the early days of personal computing was much more intuitive, thoughtful, user-friendly; sometimes ingenious, especially to someone like me. Even I have noticed things in some more recent programs that seemed really stupid - like a mistake that should have been caught by....someone... in the earliest testing phase.

Companies used to invest in having Usability experts aid in software design, that pretty much went by the wayside.

[Jamestown1630]

I’m wondering (fearing) that we’re also just degenerating in terms of personal creativity. It seems to be the case in so many areas.

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping*

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks fieldmarshaldj. Good thing Hillary wasn't around back then.