Wozniak: Software Lost Its Human Focus

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Apple Computer co-founder, Steve Wozniak, thinks software manufacturers have lost their focus on the needs of users, according to an interview with The Cardinal Inquirer. The early days of the Macintosh, he feels, offer a model for developers to follow.

Mr. Wozniak commented "I would try to take us back to the early Macintosh, the failed Lisa-type thinking of philosophies that the human is the center of the world and the computer gets designed around that person."

He feels that even Apple has lost its focus, noting that the original core group of Mac developers are gone, and the group that developed Mac OS X is not the same one that developed for the Lisa and original Mac.

The problem is that the big developers arenit creating applications with the needs of users in mind, and there is a lack of consistency in interfaces. The small developers are the ones producing quality products now, he says.

Despite his frustration with Appleis software, heis still a Mac user, and is please with Appleis products. Appleis products are the trend setters, he noted, and all work together very well.

Large software developers, however, have left Mr. Wozniak frustrated. He thinks developers need to return to consistent, simple, obvious interfaces. "I wish we could go back to that, because we had it and we lost it."

Jeff Gamet

Jeff Gamet

Jeff is the Mac Observer's Managing Editor, and co-host of the Apple Context Machine podcast. He is the author of "The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X" from Peachpit Press, and writes for several design-related publications. Jeff has presented at events such as Macworld Expo, the RSA Conference, and the Mac Computer Expo. In all his spare time, he also co-hosts the We Have Communicators podcast, and makes guest appearances on several other podcasts, too. Jeff dreams in HD.

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