On this page I vent my gripes about why so many things just don't work the way I think they should, although they may work quite well the way some people (such as designers and salesmen) think they should.
Introductory rantings and ravings
This page deals with not only my particular gripes, but with bad design in general, particularly the bad design of everyday things.
For instance, have you ever wondered why one of the most common objects in use in North America (but not in Scandinavia, Germany, France, Argentina, Brazil, or Uruguay, for example, based on personal experience) is also one of the most poorly designed that one can imagine? It is designed -- purposely, it seems, or out of of sheer ignorance -- to be the most difficult to use, especially for those with arthritis or a missing finger or two. It is called the doorknob -- so smooth, round, and unusable by, for example, your elbow when you have two armloads full of groceries!
Why do we put up with it? Because we don't know any better, and because grandpa did it that way. The problem is that his great-great-great-grandpa from whom the design was unthinkingly adopted did not know any better either! His grandpa was a caveman! That also explains why we still use the 10,000-year old, and anoying, technology called shoelaces.
It may very well be that some of my gripes are ill-founded. Perhaps a fix or a procedure already exists of which I am not aware. Perhaps the case of the Task-bar summary not informative listed below is a case in point. As always, I stand to be corrected. You are invited to disagree with me and tell me why. Even so, there is much pleasure to be derived from a good gripe.
I try to gripe about something at least once a day!
Which reminds me. What is the favorite breakfast food, not of champions, but of complainers like me? Why, Gripe Nuts Flakes, of course!
Go Home .
. . . Communicating
. . . . . . Does a red light mean "Stop" or does it mean "Go"? Mixed signals. ___ Hotels
. . . Human-computer interface
. . . . . . Blank character draws a blank ___ Task-bar summary not informative ___ Identity of Web site
. . . Simple things
. . . . . . Shoe laces ___ Itchy tags on T-shirts
Does a red light mean "Stop" or does it mean "Go"?
To: Susan Sperling, Letters Editor susan@straightgoods.com C:\Up\SGSign1.rtf 23-Mar-00
& Ish Theilheimer, Straight Goods
Re: Mixed signals for visually impaired pedestrians
By: Karen Sawatzky, 23-Mar-00
Why do we get our traffic signals crossed? -- or -- Does a red light mean "Stop" or does it mean "Go"?
(About 727 words to follow, from ~~~~ to ~~~~.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The subject article was very interesting and informative. It adds to my growing list of examples of why we do some complex things very well. It's the simple things that we manage to foul up.
Recent example: the failure of a $165 million Mars probe because the NASA astronautics scientists in charge of the mission topped up the "gas tank" of the last stage of the flight using (of course!) metric (SI) units (such as litres), whereas the hundreds of engineering subcontractors who built the rocket use (of course!) those archaic British Engineering Units (such as gallons). Surprise! The rocket ran out of "gas". The missing link here was not the question of whether the gallons should be Imperial or USA gallons, or "litres" instead of "liters". The missing link was not the need for a computer as powerful as an abacus; it was the need to ask the question "Will that be gallons, gallons, litres, or liters, sir?". I, not being a rocket scientist, find the following magic "code phrase" to be extremely effective in performing such metric conversions unfailingly: "Fill 'er up, please!". It's a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself! And, fortunately, Microsoft has not (yet) applied for protection of this bit of "code" as a trade secret!
It has sometimes puzzled me that, in signage, we in North America use red as a sign of danger, stop, or do not come this way, as in the red stoplight. At the same time, our emergency exit signs are all in red. I ask the simple question: why are they not in green instead? Surely the wrong message to send someone in an emergency is an exit sign that says both "come this way" in lettering but "stop, no entry" in its color message. A trivial distinction? I think not, especially if one speaks only a language of which "Exit" is not a part, but color language understands that red usually means "no entry, danger this way". It was pleasing to note that in our travels in Spain we observed that all emergency exit signs and associated instructional symbols and lettering are in green! Ole!
If this color question seems trivial, consider the experience of a colleague of mine. She was driving on a four-lane 60 km/hr divided parkway at dusk, in clear weather. She put on her signal light, started slowing down to exit onto another parkway, and looked ahead again to try to figure out what the truck ahead of her was doing. It had red rear lights on. Nothing particularly alarming about that. What did that convey? It meant that the truck was either: (a) traveling at constant speed, (b) speeding up, (c) slowing down (foot off gas pedal), (d) slowing down (foot on brake), (e) stopped, or (f) backing up. She realized at the last split second that the truck was stopped in the middle of the exit ramp. She slammed on her brakes, just barely avoiding her own beheading
It would make much more sense to me if the rear lights on vehicles obeyed the following rules for the corresponding cases above: (a) steady green, (b) flashing green, (c) steady amber, (d) flashing amber, (e) steady red, and (f) flashing red, respectively. Research studies twenty years ago showed that this would reduce reaction time and save lives. We are still stuck in a mindset that has not made use of the facts that batteries have been invented and that lamps no longer need wicks and coal oil!
If this seems academic, note that about 65% of all traffic accidents are rear-end collisions, usually caused by tailgating. We had a simple example on Hwy. 401 near Windsor last year in which a bit of fog led to the deaths of 7 and injuries to about 50 in a 62-car pile-up. I saw a video clip of cars traveling at 140 km/hr in moderate fog two car lengths apart. A group in the USA is working to develop a system whereby the red light initiated by braking would come on 0.2 second earlier than with present systems. That is, the red light would come on before the brake pedal was touched. The saving? 1,000 lives a year in the USA.
Yes, simple things do mean a lot! It's having the thought that counts -- not how complex the thought is!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You are free to publish any or all of the above, including my name and city.
Signed: Wayne R. Paulson, Ottawa
Getting there
After a hectic day on the road, you arrive at the city of your dreams, with a hotel in mind, its address firmly in hand. Along the way, of course, you might have been led astray by deficiencies in highway signage, or wrong assumptions as to what symbols or words such as 'North' mean (Sometimes it could mean 'East'!); see Highway navigation.
Now all you need to do is to find the hotel, right? That may be easy if you are briefed by a neat map or guidebook that it is near the intersection of two given highways. However, what if its address is given as 1234 Easy street? First, can you find a street sign? Do you even know on what street you are driving? How would you know? Many cities in Canada and the USA are derelict in their lack of, or deficiency in, street signage. You could drive through five or ten intersections in most cities without there being a sign of what street you are on. Even if there is a sign, it is often on only one corner of the street. If that corner is on your left, and it is at night, it will be difficult or impossible to read the sign, especially -- as is too often the case -- the lettering is too small. In my experience, there is one city that does it right. It should be no surprise that it is Los Angeles. It provides the added benefit of posting signs (for major streets) indicating that a given street is a half block ahead. Wonderful!
Now, even if you do land on Easy Street, where is number 1234? If the street is lined with businesses -- even those which serve the public directly -- there is, more often than not, no building number posted out front. One can drive for many blocks without seeing a single such number. It seems to me that there should be a law requiring that all buildings facing any public street must have a number -- and one so prominent, both day and night, that it is easily readable from a passing car at speed by someone with poor vision. How about letters that are at least eight inches high? One penalty for not posting such a number, apart from a hefty fine, would be to deny any such building the benefit of postal service and the service of fire trucks. Let's see what that would do to their fire-insurance rates!
Now, following all of this travail, you finally arrive at the hotel. Now, where to enter, especially as there is an eighteen-wheel transport truck tailgating you? (My apologies to truck drivers; they are definitely more expert and courteous than the average car driver!) Wouldn't it be nice to have a prominent sign such as 'Enter here -->'?
The door to the room
Having finally arrived at your room, you ask "Now, what could go wrong now?". Well, for a start, try seeing which end of your computerized key card to stick into the key slot. Does it have a prominent large arrow indicating which end to stick into the slot? Probably not! It probably has a very small arrow (or, worse, a triangle) near the edge of the card. Why is something so absolutely simple to design usually a complete design failure?
Having finally opened the door, and having toted a couple of suitcases, either by hand, or by luggage cart, you now face the daunting task of getting the suitcases or the cart into the room. That is not as easy as it should be. Why? Because most hotel doors are designed to swing shut -- and, quite forcefully. Wouldn't it be so much easier if the door just stayed where you put it? Why is the door designed so as to be the most awkward to use? Is it a fire regulation, for safety purposes? Perhaps, because in a fire one wants as many doors to remain closed as possible. Or is it for the convenience of the hotel owner wanting to avoid a lawsuit in the case where a careless traveler leaves the door unlocked, only to discover later that someone has stolen something from his room?
The bathroom
We now enter the most dangerous place -- whether it be at home or in a hotel -- at least in the USA and Canada. (The Scandinavians do it much better and safer.) Does the sink area have a counter top or a shelf spacious enough to hold more than an ice bucket and two toothbrushes? Probably not. There is usually far too little space available. See Tracking Down Bad Design for much more on this and related subjects by one who profits from correcting such design failures -- and more power to him -- a PhD candidate in computing, by the way!
Are there a few simple pegs on the wall upon which to hang a towel or a coat? Too often not. It is such a simple and useful thing to have. Far easier to throw a towel onto a peg than to have to carefully fold it so that it fits into a horizontal rod an inch out from a wall, only to slip down to the floor because you failed to center it exactly!
Now, for the high-risk area -- an absolute design failure -- a very dangerous one! Why there are bathtubs in bathrooms I cannot imagine. How can one get clean by sitting in soapy water which is becoming increasingly mucky from soap suds and your own dirt the more you wash? It is an awkward, slippery device, difficult to enter, and treacherously slippery if one is forced to stand up in one and try to shower. Many lives are lost because of this each year -- from just a little slip. The situation is even more dangerous if there is a glass shower wall. It is cruel enough to contemplate slipping and crashing right through such a wall. What happens if you crash only half-way through is too horrible to contemplate. But it happens every year, if not every month or two.
Would it not be so much more convenient and safe if the bathroom were designed along Nordic lines? No tub. No separate shower area. Just a few portable shower nozzles, a bench where you can, if you prefer, sit to have a shower (or stand), waterproof walls for the whole room, and slats for a floor to let water drain away.
Surely nothing could go wrong with the toilet facility, could it? Well, for a start, have you ever had to reach at an awkward angle to try to snatch a few sheets of toilet paper? Too often, the roller is in a location that is difficult to reach. You can be assured that it was not located in that way for your convenience; it was located for the convenience of being an easy-to-construct add-on, at the least cost of construction. As for how easy it is to just pull on the roll of paper and extract just, say, six sheets, all still connected? Easy, you say? Not if the paper has to be pulled from the top of the roll, instead of from the bottom, where it should be. Simple physics will explain why. Why is something so simple often done wrongly?
The TV set
Most hotel rooms place the TV set on a cabinet of drawers facing the main bed -- on the assumption, presumably, that people like to lay in bed and watch TV. It is probably a correct assumption, but I, for one, cannot imagine wanting to watch TV laying down. For one thing, it is a very uncomfortable way to watch TV, with a crink in the neck -- unless, of course, the TV were hung from the ceiling facing downward! (That might give one a reason, at last, to be able to look up to TV, for a change!) Some people who do so complain that they have trouble sleeping. No wonder! Sleep experts advise that one should not watch TV or read a book while laying down -- especially in a bed. By watching TV while laying down, the conscious brain gets the message that the person wants to stay awake to watch TV. The less conscious part of the brain, however, gets the message that, by laying down --especially in a bed -- one wants to relax and go to sleep. Some really tired people lay down in bed with the TV off and wonder why they just can't seem to get to sleep!
The big problem for me is that, although the TV is conveniently facing the bed -- where my wife likes to watch while laying down -- I then have no place to sit in a comfortable chair and watch the same -- unless I am willing to make do with a half-sideways picture! By doing so, one gets to watch a lot of very slim people on TV! In my view, the TV set should be pointed away from the bed toward two comfortable chairs having a little table handy for holding drinks and an ash tray. (Yes, a dreaded ash tray -- even for non-smokers!)
Nighthawk readers
If I wake up at three AM and would rather read for awhile than go right back to sleep, where can I sit comfortably with a light on for reading, but without waking up my wife? Too often, it is in the bathroom only, and none too comfortable! It should not be an impossible task for there to be a light source located away from the bed, and with a proper shade to provide for that. It does not have to be expensive or complicated.
The table
If you wished to write a note or to read a newspaper, can you imagine the worst possible design for a table? Yes, a small, round table. Even worse, stick the lamp holder rod into the center of the table, so that even less of the table area is useful. It is now only large enough to hold two glasses and an ash tray! These are found too often! The reasonable alternative is a square table, large enough to hold the New York Times, fully extended, with some space left over. Does that sound too square? Oh -- and would it be too much to ask that there be a light source nearby rather than over in the far corner of the room? Too often it is! (Yes, I'm getting grumpier every minute!)
The ash tray
How could something so simple in concept as an ash tray be designed so badly? It almost invariably is. Hotels and restaurants seem to have -- with very few exceptions -- ash trays that are well-designed for one purpose, but badly designed for at least two others.
Even if you are not a smoker, this design failure could affect you. Such typical ash trays come in two basic designs -- both failures, in my view. One has an inner raised ring and an outer edge ring, elevated just a bit higher than the inner ring. It is built of smooth plastic or glass that is so smooth that the lit end of the cigarette invariably touches the bottom of the ash tray. The second basic type has corner slots, the bottoms of which are angled downwards so that the lit end touches the bottom of the ash tray. This admirably fulfills one design objective -- a fail-safe ash tray. That is, one in which one can lay down a lit cigarette, have a memory lapse, leave the room to go to dinner, to return later to discover only the remains of the cigarette still in the ash tray, instead of discovering that your room has burnt to the ground. So, the safety objective has been met, but is that the only way to do so? No.
Although these ash trays admirably meet the fail-safe criterion, they are abject failures in the following three other important respects:
(a) the enjoyment of the smoker;
(b) the enjoyment of a non-smoker in the same room; and,
(c) the degree and nature of the smoke that will be coating all surfaces in the room.
The obviously simple fact is that smoke from a lit cigarette tip that is touching a surface such as the bottom of the ash tray will be dirtier (less combusted) than that from a free end of the cigarette. The fact that the lit end is touching a surface means that the tobacco will be burning at a lower temperature than otherwise, thus burning less completely. It is rather akin to burning dry wood with some attendant smoke, as opposed to burning wet wood (at a lower temperature, therefore), with resulting voluminous sooty smoke. How can something so simple be overlooked? Easily, it seems. If for no other reason than to cut down on cleaning bills, one would have thought that hotels would prefer not to have the ends of lit cigarettes touching glass!
What alternative is there? It is absolutely simple, and just as inexpensive. Have an ash tray with the two ridges, as in the one first described above, but with two important refinements. The inner and outer rings must be of the same elevation, and they must be corrugated. This offers a fail-safe design, and one in which the end of the cigarette can never touch the bottom of the ash tray. This might add as much as one-fifth of a cent to the cost of an ash tray, which in bulk, probably sells for 25 cents! How much would it save the hotel in cleaning bills? A lot!
Of course, non-smokers might prefer that smoking be outlawed completely. My reply is that I might consider it, if the ownership of pets within city limits were outlawed completely. They are dirty and dangerous. (Most children who have half of their faces ripped off by pet dogs are the victims of the ever-so gentle family pet -- not stray dogs.)
The nightlight
What nightlight? I usually bring one along. Why don't hotels provide one?
Ice cubes
Where, oh where, are the ice cubes and the vending machine? On this floor? Two flights down? Why not a simple sign here and there hinting at where they are? But, perhaps, that might take some of the mystery out of the hotel experience!
For more, see Hotels.
Blank character draws a blank
Why does the blank character in a word processor give me so much blankety-blank trouble? In composing this very page of text using FPXpress, I encounter the following problem. If I wished to compose the line of text "a b c d", in which each visible text character is separated by two blanks, who would have thought that would be difficult? Let me try it, right here. It will not work! As you can see, the letters are separated by only one blank, even though I pressed the space bar twice for each interval. Similarly, I cannot add an extra blank character beyond the single blank character that follows the last visible character in this line, the period.
Why should I worry about it? Because, in composing the Site contents section of my home page, I wished to have several entries in that list set out on a single line, as follows:
Preamble: _____ My general interests _____ Navigation of my site. _____ Design notes. _____ About Wayne .
Why do you see the underscore characters in that line serving as proxy blank spaces? Because I could not make it prettier by using blanks instead of any other character. Perhaps there is some simple trick that I am not aware of. I tried to use a feature called Format | Remove Formatting; however, it did nothing for me except to make the text look even more boring than it already is!
I realize that the blank character has special properties having to do with word wrapping. It is more than just another character. However, it is frustrating to not be able to overide that property. One solution might to have two types of blank character in word processors. One having the two properties of the present blank, the other having only the property of any other plebian character.
As to any other solution to this problem? My mind is a blank! I'm almost spaced out!
Go to Page contents near top.
Task-bar summary not informative
In working with the program (FPXpress) with which I built this Web page, one has to have all relevant page-files open in order to establish non-URL hyperlinks among them. That means that one has a screen in which all but one page is minimized, a souvenir of which is a small box at the bottom of the screen, with part of the page's file name showing. Why is it that the "wrong" part of the file name is showing instead of the "right" part?
Let me explain. It is most efficient (if not absolutely necessary) to have all pages of one's Web site that are to be resident on a single computer to all reside in the same directory. For example, in my case, I have all such files resident in the directory C :\My Documents\WayneSite. This Gripes page is then one of more than 14 pages residing in that directory, in the file C \My Documents\WayneSite\Gripes.htm. Another page, About Wayne page, is in a file C \My Documents\WayneSite\About.htm, and so on. So far, so good. But when I have all of these files open and minimized, what do the summary boxes display? C \My Doc... -- each and every one of them! How helpful is that?
It would be so much more convenient if, instead, the summaries were the rightmost portion of each filename (without the suffix), instead of the leftmost portion! Then the summaries would be Gripes, About, Ideas, etc. Does that sound just too simple to manage?
Ideally, it would be nice to have an option in such a program for one to choose the starting position of such summaries, whether that be at the beginning, the middle, or somewhere near the end.
Now, let me make a contrite admission. I have discovered, since writing the diatribe above, that the situation is not as bleak as I had stated. If you hover the mouse over the Title (leftmost) portion of that little box at the bottom, a full pathname does pop up. It is almost enough to restore one's faith in humanity!
Go to Page contents near top.
Identity of Web site
Why is it that so many Web sites exhibit the following annoying characteristics:
(a) It is difficult or impossible to determine which person or organization publishes the site.
(b) If such identification information is given, it is not possible to copy it, or if one is able to, it consists of an overly ambitious graphic.
These are especially irritating to one such as I who often wishes to copy and paste some extracts from a site to e-mail to a friend or to incorporate into a Web site such as this one. Why hold back the progress of plagiarism, I ask?
The Favorites feature of browsers is a very convenient tool -- at least in terms of its technology. For example, it is so convenient, is it not, that instead of having to remember the string of characters
http://www.fpnotebook.com/index.htm,
one could remember, instead, a neat summary description, such as Family Practice notes. Its home page is entitled Family Practice Notebook. Guess what the Favorites system takes as the summary title? "Home". Now, could you possibly think of a less descriptive summary name? How about "Irrevelevant"? Just think how useful your Favorites system would be if all sites were listed under the name Home!
Go to Page contents near top.
Shoe laces. Why do we still use them? Because the technology of laces is as old as that of shoes -- namely, about 10,000 years? Oh yes, people have used buckles, but they get clogged up with snow, you say? Why not use Velcro? Kids use them. Why not adults? Are they just too proud? I'm not!
I have a pair of winter boots which, unfortunately, use laces. I could not find ones that use Velcro. It seems strange to me why I could not find ones that use Velcro. Part of the reason that winter is so unbearable is that, in venturing into the great outdoors, I have to kick off my indoor shoes. That is no problem -- they use Velcro fasteners, in which I usually do not even have Velcro touching Velcro. Yes, I am too lazy to bend over and undo the Velcro. When I am indoors you might as well call my shoes slippers rather than shoes, and there is no way that I am going to bend over to undo slippers. So far, so good. But what a production when it comes to doing up laces, then undoing the mess when arriving back home!
To compound the problem further, my boots came with laces that are of exactly the worst cross section -- namely, round, not flat. Why is round wrong? Because it is the shape that gives the least surface area in common with touching another lace, and therefore the least amount of friction. This explains why you have to stop and tighten-up your laces so often during walkabouts, unless you apply an industrial-strength stapler. Am I being too demanding in wondering why the technology of designing laces has not advanced one whit in centuries? Or, even more germain, why we even use laces at all?
Now you know why I am sometimes fit to be tied!
In case you think that my ideas about velcro and shoes are just half baked, pay a visit to:
h a l f b a k e r y: http://www.halfbakery.com/ It's the thought that counts. Here is a site where you can see others' bright ideas (in a variety of fields) and submit your own. What better page there than to visit
Popular Velcro Shoes
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Popular_20Velcro_20Shoes#981845944-5-1
The wave of the
future!
I know Velcro shoes are Baked. I don't need PeterSealy telling me that. But they seem to be aimed at the little kids, since they can't tie shoes yet. But why do adults need to tie shoes? It just seems so old-fashioned and inefficient.
I have been seeing shoes with zippers lately as well. This is progress. Why are we still tying shoes when we can be zipping or Velcroing and saving valuable time.
I propose there should be a movement to get rid of shoelaces and put mostly Velcro and zipper shoes on the market for adults.
~~~~~~~~~~
My sentiments exactly!
T-shirts: why they don't fit me to a T!
It is one of my hobbies -- especially while travelling -- to observe how things could be done differently, and why, to me at least, some everyday things seem to be done wrongly -- and at greater expense then doing it correctly.
For example, years ago I complained that T-shirts and undershirts were annoying to wear, and for two reasons:
___ 1. I find items of clothing which hug the neck to be uncomfortable -- not that I am averse to some kinds of hugs! :~) That is why I gave up wearing them years ago.
___ 2. On such clothes, the little tag at the back of the neck would prove to be a very annoying source of irritation. So I gave up wearing undershirts and T-shirts.
So, that's why T-shirts just don't fit me to a T!
Why is something so simple being done wrongly, I thought? Why is it being done, not just year after year, but for almost a century? Why are such tags added -- at extra cost and price -- just to add extra irritation? My thought was that, one could make a better product, at a cheaper cost, by just eliminating the tag. But who to complain to, or make a constructive suggestion?
I watched, for the first time last night (27 Jan 03), a commercial on TV which renewed my faith in humanity! Although the subject may seem lowly, the elimination of the tag seemed to me to be a great move -- by the following company:
Hanes Underwear, Socks, Panties, Bras, Tshirts, Baby Clothing, Cotton, Bedding: http://www.hanes.com/index.jsp
In particular, Hanes' great campaign GoTagless has been underway since 'The Hanes Tag Retired October 17, 2002'. You can watch some of its TV adds on the site.
Just a marketing ploy, you may well ask? Perhaps. But was the first car to have that new-fangled feature called 'windshield wipers' also just a marketing ploy? Maybe! I'm all for marketing ploys which bring us better products at lower prices!
In case you get the impression that I'm an old grouch -- well, you're partly right! Which part, I deign to say! : ~ )
There was a young woman from
Natchez
Whose clothing was always in patches.
When confronted by those
On the state of her clothes,
She replied, "When I itches, I scratches!"
For more:
Limericks: http://www.swcp.com/~bumper/limerick.htm
And now, I'm just itching to find something new to grouch about!
Go Home. ___ Go to Page contents near top.
You can e-mail me at waynerp@sympatico.ca