AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.

Now You See It, Now You Don't.(Review)

American Journal of Psychology

| March 22, 2000 | MASSARO, DOMINIC W.; Singh, Nirvikar | COPYRIGHT 2000 University of Illinois Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)Copyright

The Invisible Computer: Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer Is So Complex, and Information Appliances Are the Solution

By Donald A. Norman. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998. 302 pp. Cloth, $25.

The subtitle of this book is "Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer Is So Complex, and Information Appliances Are the Solution." Briefly, the answers that Donald Norman provides are as follows:

Good products can fail because good products may be technologically sophisticated, but not what the consumer wants to use or pay for, and not-so-good products may become dominant and hard to dislodge because they make up a nonsubstitutable infrastructure.

The personal computer is so complex because the personal computer is expected to do too many things, and this does not allow it to do any one thing well. In addition, its design is driven by technologists, who do not pay enough attention to what consumers or potential users want.

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, journals, and more
THE INVISIBLE COMPUTER: WHY GOOD PRODUCTS CAN FAIL, THE PERSONAL COMPUTER IS SO...
Magazine article from: Technical Communication Romaine, Garret August 1, 1999 700+ words
...aggravation. Donald Norman's latest book certainly...them much hope. "The personal computer is perhaps the most...technology ever," Norman writes. "The computer...experience. (p. 49) Norman has a dean, crisp...We understand this personal computer beast - we tear the...
Recent Home-Technology Buyers Want a More Personal Personal Computer.
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Claymon, Deborah August 16, 1999 700+ words
...15 -- The square gray personal computer Cheryl Hernandez has in...something more personal from a personal computer. Falling prices and the...extensions of themselves. Don Norman, head of the Nielsen Norman Group and former vice president...
MIXED OUTLOOKS FOR HIGH TECH FIRMS / `PRETTY HAPPY YEAR' FORESEEN IN PERSONAL...
Newspaper article from: The Journal Record STEVE WILSTEIN, AP January 7, 1987 700+ words
...grew more strongly, Norman DeWitt, Dataquest's director of personal computer industry services...Stock prices of the top personal computer companies reflected...IBM's plans in the personal computer market cloud the future...
Irvine, Calif.-Based EMachines Asserts Place in Personal Computer Market.
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Norman, Jan March 29, 1999 700+ words
...Irvine, which has sold its sub-$600 eTower computers for just four months, has grabbed fourth place in retail desktop personal computer sales, reports PC Data of Reston, Va. In February, eMachines sales captured 9.9 percent of the market, passing Apple...
Personal computer sales fall.
News wire article from: Australasian Business Intelligence October 24, 2001 700+ words
...INTERNATIONAL DATA CORPORATION AUSTRALIA: GATEWAY COMPUTERS: HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY: COMPAQ COMPUTER CORPORATION: HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED - ASX HVN: ANSETT AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED: ONE.TEL LIMITED: HIH INSURANCE LIMITED: MICROSOFT CORPORATION...
SierraHome Turns Personal Computer Into Professional Card Shop With The Card...
Press release article from: PR Newswire October 4, 1999 700+ words
...greetings and look of any of the pre-designed cards. Users can also access special content packs with famous images such as Norman Rockwell's familiar paintings, Hulton Getty's legendary black and white photos and celebrity portraits, Valerie Tabor...
STUDY: BLACKS STILL NOT EMBRACING THE PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD.(LIFE & LEISURE)
Newspaper article from: Albany Times Union (Albany, NY) July 19, 1995 700+ words
...organizations and the efforts of some 150 volunteers. Detailed information is available by querying CRISNY's executive director, Norman D. Kurland, at nkurland@crisny.albany.edu. A college wire(less) act The University of California at Santa Cruz has...
Advanced Gravis announces low-cost high-quality digital sound for IBM PC....
Press release article from: PR Newswire October 24, 1989 700+ words
...Mousestick, for IBM, Apple, Commodore Amiga and Atari microcomputers. -0- 10/243/89 /CONTACT: In the United States, Norman Levinson, 206-637-2825, or in Canada, Grant Russell, 604-434-7274, both of Advanced Gravis Computer Technology...
For more facts and information, see all results
©2009 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
About us | FAQs | Contact us | Privacy policy | Terms and conditions
Other Gale sites: Encyclopedia.com | HighBeam Research | Acquire Content | Books & Authors | Goliath | MovieRetriever | Smart QandA