THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700


S U M M A R Y


DIARY: November 30, 2000 09:11 AM Thursday; Rod Welch

Paul Fernhout comments on Augment NLS support for KM.

1...Summary/Objective
2...Paradigm Shift from Documents to Knowledge Space
3...Ease of Use and Learning Subordinate to Efficiency, Productivity


..............
Click here to comment!

CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Augment NLS Outstanding for Its Time, Does Not Support KM Today
Augment Compiler Move Record to Modern Technology Compiler, Bowman, 0
Augment Control Keying Hand Implemented by Lens, Sheldon 001010
Knowledge Space Paradigm Shift from Documents
Documents Have Information Knowledge is Connections Cause Effect in H
Documents Not Effective Method or Concept for DKR, KM Knowledge
Augment Not Effective Model for DKR, KM Knowledge

4409 -    ..
4410 - Summary/Objective
4411 -
441101 - Follow up ref SDS 10 0001
441102 -
441103 - Received ref DRT 1 0001 from Paul Fernhout commenting on a letter from
441104 - John Werneken, who initially quotes Eric Armstrong interpretting OHS
441105 - spec as being the Augment spec. ref DRT 1 5L5K
441106 -
441107 - John says...
441108 -
441109 -     ...Augment seems ...a stunning achievement for the pre-PC era, but
441110 -     not necessarily a model for the future. As I misunderstand it, the
441111 -     Augment pattern is strongly centralized and document-centric.
441112 -     Customizability and "ease of use" don't seem to be strengths.
441113 -     ref DRT 1 TM6L
441114 -
441115 - This seems to align with Eric's review of a video showing Augment, and
441116 - observing Doug use Augment during a demonstration at SRI on 000622.
441117 - ref SDS 9 9626
441118 -
441119 -
441120 -      [On 010329 Jack Park plans upgrade of Augment adding SDS
441121 -      capability and modern presentation using Java. ref SDS 12 A13H
441122 -
441123 -  ..
441124 - Paradigm Shift from Documents to Knowledge Space
441125 -
441126 - Follow up ref SDS 6 5933.
441127 -
441128 - Paul generally concurs, and says further...
441129 -
441130 -     Still, one of the first design issues I encountered when reviewing
441131 -     the OHS/Augment spec (back in January) was the decision to use the
441132 -     word "document" for the core of how knowledge was stored -- as
441133 -     opposed to thinking of documents as something produced on a
441134 -     temporary basis, or perhaps exchanged, or perhaps input, with
441135 -     knowledge being stored in a "fine-grained" fashion (or
441136 -     "relational" in the Kent sense of relations between concepts).
441137 -     ref DRT 1 CQG8
441138 - ..
441139 - This aligns in some respects with POIMS concept that documents
441140 - are not effficient methods to generate and manage knowledge, and
441141 - indeed cannot really be said, to even store "knowledge," as defined in
441142 - POIMS, ref OF 1 0582, and discussed recently on 000517, ref SDS 7
441143 - 5096, and the next day at SRI. ref SDS 8 3528  A powerful new concept
441144 - of Knowledge Space is needed to take the next step in the march of
441145 - civilization, as laid out on 960620. ref SDS 1 3516
441146 -
441147 -      [On 010329 Jack Park plans upgrade of Augment adding SDS
441148 -      capability and modern presentation using Java. ref SDS 12 A13H
441149 -
441150 - Knowledge Space is explained in POIMS. ref OF 1 034J and ref OF 1 1107
441151 - It aligns with Doug Engelbart's call for "new ways of thinking,"
441152 - reviewed on 000424. ref SDS 6 5933
441153 - ..
441154 - On 000307 Henry van Eykan proposed that traditional books will
441155 - be replaced by electronic books, which supports the concept of
441156 - Knowledge Space, ref SDS 4 4782, explained to the team in a letter to
441157 - Eric Armstrong on 000208 asking for the core capability required for
441158 - technology to improve knowledge work. ref SDS 3 J47O  On 000317
441159 - proposed that DKR team investigate advantage of Knowledge Space for
441160 - improving human memory in pilot testing using seniors. ref SDS 5 4782
441161 -
441162 -
441163 -
441164 -
441165 -
4412 -

SUBJECTS
Ease of Use Learning Less Important Efficiency Productivity
Ease of Use More Important than Usefulness
Product Usefulness Devolve Lowest Common Denominator
Ergonomics Critical Productivity of Management
Product Idea Every Handles Information Complex Subtle Critical Mass I
Money Organize Competence Augment Intelligence Money Alphabet Control
Easy to Use Preferred More than Productivity of Function Keys

5310 -
531001 -  ..
531002 - Ease of Use and Learning Subordinate to Efficiency, Productivity
531003 -
531004 - Paul continues....
531005 -
531006 -     I'm more with Doug here -- systems should be designed to be
531007 -     "efficient to use" rather than "easy to use", given that it is
531008 -     worth the small investment to become productive (Example the time
531009 -     it takes to touch type).  Also, they should be "expansive to use"
531010 -     rather than "limiting to use".  However, splitting the difference,
531011 -     I think they should be easy to learn if possible to do common
531012 -     tasks, and also may have to cater to different types of users
531013 -     (casual vs. expert) perhaps with multiple task specific or user
531014 -     specific interfaces which are easier to understand for their
531015 -     isolated useage. And after all, you can still use a keyboard even
531016 -     when you can't touch type. (Keyboards are actually a bad example
531017 -     because they weren't designed for speed or ease of use or
531018 -     efficiency (other than avoiding key jams) -- people just invented
531019 -     ways to behave when using them to try to make them so.),
531020 -     ref DRT 1 00XY
531021 - ..
531022 - Attention to ease of use results in selling a lot of equipment
531023 - that makes equipment manufactures, and sellers seem productive and
531024 - smart. But since it does not make the people who buy and use the
531025 - computers any smarter, and in fact reduces productivity, equipment
531026 - that stresses ease of use over productivity causes overall earnings to
531027 - decline over time, because the technology merely causes information
531028 - overload, leading to continual bumbling, as reported at Intel on
531029 - 970603. ref SDS 2 5803   For awhile, favorable market conditions
531030 - defers the impact of bumbling, but eventually lower productivity shows
531031 - up in earnings and stock prices.
531032 -
531033 -      [On 001206 submitted concurrance to DKR team. ref SDS 11 0001
531034 -
531035 -
531036 -
531037 -
531038 -
531039 -
531040 -
531041 -
531042 -
531043 -
531044 -
531045 -
531046 -
531047 -
5311 -