shop-talk
[Top] [All Lists]

revised important Y2K information

To: shop-talk@autox.team.net
Subject: revised important Y2K information
From: dave.williams@chaos.lrk.ar.us (Dave Williams)
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 18:32:00 -0500

-> the previous informational message was assuming (bad idea) that you
-> actually know how to set the clock and program your VCR... if this is
-> not the case...... please ignore previous message....we now continue
-> with your regularly scheduled program....

 You can come over and program mine.  I managed it once; it took about
half an hour.  You use a random collection of buttons, which puts the
VCR into various of probably 20 different modes.  You can't tell what
mode you're in, you can't tell if you made a mistake, and the only way
you know if worked is if it turns itself on and starts to record.

 It's an excellent example of a psychopathic user interface.

 I've seen VCRs that programmed with on-screen menus via the remote;
even children have no trouble with those.  But old ones like mine...
it's not even worth trying.  I'll bet you $20 you can't do it faster
than I can, even if I can still find the manual, which is written in
stilted Chinglish.  I guarantee you won't do it without the manual, as
there is no other way to know what the button sequences might be.


 Reminds me of some software I was trying to use once.  It had these
weirdball triangle icons, no text.  I couldn't figure out what the hell
they were.  Finally someone told me (complete with snide voice) that
they were "just like the buttons on a VCR."  Okay.  *MY* VCR says
"Pause, Reverse, Stop, Play, Record."  Not a triangle to be seen...

==dave.williams@chaos.lrk.ar.us======================================
I've got a secret / I've been hiding / under my skin / | Who are you?
my heart is human / my blood is boiling / my brain IBM |   who, who?
=================================== http://home1.gte.net/42/index.htm
       

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>