2010/4/30 Sean P. DeNigris <sean at clipperadams.com>:
> This part lost me.  It sounds true, but what's the hurdle?  My suggestion
> was: if we want a menu/search bar to ease the transition of new users into
> the Squeak way of doing things, why not provide them with an easily
> accessible hint (whether by the name of the bar, or a balloon, or whatever)
> as to what that way is, so that they can pursue it when and if they are
> interested.

A balloon could be a good idea but they haven't been updated to the
current look. The concept may not sink it quickly: "Smalltalk
expressions can be evaluated in the search bar." Most programmers have
no notion of dynamic environment and they are used to
write-compile-run cycles. The workspace seems to be a better place to
get this concept understood. But, hey, a balloon is fine too.

We could also consider having some kind of "Tip of the Day" with
various tips. It's not contextual as a balloon but it could bring
something to newcomers.

> This results only in the removal of a hurdle - the hurdle of knowing that
> there even is a better way out there, and where to look for information.
> Superficial adoption is what got us into the current MS/Apple mess -
> visitors to Xerox that noticed the UI look, without any of the revolutionary
> object-oriented open system.

This is a very interesting comment. It's not the first time
superficial got someone into troubles. Isn't it? :))

> Sean

Ian.
-- 
http://mecenia.blogspot.com/