\nI’m the sort of person who will notice that a chromatography column is not performing optimally<\/a> and do something about it<\/em> (and therein is a weblog entry for another day). But my problem is that, cool as technology might be, the interface is usually really sucky.<\/p>\n \nTake a random example.<\/p>\n \n \nI am reminded (HT<\/a>) that we used to have one of these babies in Cambridge. We inherited it from the lab down the corridor who’d just bought something shiny and new. We already had an FPLC, which although it had a primitive interface, was reasonably easy to use. And everyone in the lab knew how to use it.<\/p>\n \nBut the AKTA. Ah. <\/p>\n \nIt came with a PC (running Windows. You just know<\/em> that’s gotta hurt) and some bizarre software that needed individual user accounts and a new sodding program each time you wanted to make the slightest alteration to a protocol. And the manual appeared to have been translated from Swedish to English via Serbo Croat.<\/p>\n \nBy a Himalayan monk.<\/p>\n \nFortunately for me, I managed to figure out how it worked (yes, I’m a geek) and didn’t quite get round to making an idiot’s guide to it. Which meant that while my fellow lab rats fought over time on the FPLC, I hardly ever had to book the AKTA to myself. It was mine, all mine. Mwah hah ha–sorry.<\/p>\n \nIt’s not just ‘physical’ technology where the nerds don’t realize normal people are going to use it, either. Gmail went tits-up a little while ago, and I got this wonderfully informative error message:<\/p>\n \n \nNow, while ‘Detailed Technical information might be useful to a technician, why the hell is it there for me to click on if all it says is ‘Numeric Code: 66’? I have no idea what that means. I don’t know if that’s a fault with my set up, the Gmail server, just my Gmail account or crabs and lobsters eating the long, damp piece of string carrying electrons across the Pacific. Which means I have no idea about its fixability: more importantly I don’t know whether I should tell Gmail technicians they have an error 66 (‘Oh, right, error 66. Yes, you need to reboot your third quadrant alpha widget’) or what. It tells me nothing–and I don’t even know if it’s the sort of error that is likely<\/em> to persist.<\/p>\n \nNothing. Bad interface.<\/p>\n \nSo, anyway, I got a linkedin<\/a> update this morning.<\/p>\n \n \nAnd I chuckled at the phrasing of Richard’s concern, and my finger hovered over the ‘delete’ button, when I realized ‘Monday’ was trying to get my attention. So I auxiliary-clicked it:<\/p>\n \n \nOoh, I thought. How neat. And I selected ‘Show This Date in iCal’ and lo! it was reveal\u00e9d unto me:<\/p>\n \n \nIsn’t that so totally and utterly awesome<\/strong>? Technology with an interface that actually makes life easier. We want more like this, please.<\/p>\n I love technology. Not only do I love what it does for us, but I love fiddling with it. Taking it apart. Seeing what makes it tick. Making it go better. I’m the sort of person who will notice that … Continue reading ![\"AKTAaarghhh\"](\"http:\/\/www.gmi-inc.com\/BioTechLab\/AKTA%20explorer.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"numeric](\"http:\/\/rg-d.com\/nature\/gmailerror.png\")
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<\/p>\n![\"Monday\"](\"http:\/\/rg-d.com\/nature\/ical.png\")
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\nAnd I know that I sound like an Apple fan-boy here, but that’s just tough. The reason we love<\/em> our Macs is precisely because of the interface.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"