Always Time to Rethink Paradigm

I switched to a Mac last week, and am getting my bearings. Though the (ad campaign) phrase, "It just works!" crosses my lips daily, so do a number of other expletives.

It has been a reminder that "prettier" and "better-designed" can also mean headaches, if only because it's different. (I generally am not in a mood to Think Different, I just want to check my email.)

Pressing F12 is an example: my screen dims, and a bunch of "widgets" pop up - a calendar, a clock, etc. The clock is a classic style - round face - and I'm reminded of what it was like to glance at this style of interface and not even need to read the numbers -- to know the time, yet not be thinking about any numbers. I like it better than a digital display, I find it easier.

But as I fumble to re-train myself to use the FOUR keys for Alt, Control, Command, Function, Apple, Squiggly, and Option (Shift being a 5th key and 7th concept), I admit not all things Mac are like that clock, a steps backward into more intuitive paradigms. Not to blame Apple for that: as I compare the two types of hardware, and also evaluate Word vs iPage vs Open Office (vs. Google Docs & Zoho Docs), I can really see how we as an audience are still pretty conflicted as to what our expected tool paradigms really are.

Perhaps only the Shift key has a universally agreed-upon set of functions, dating back to the typewriter of course, and round clocks.