Bit Literacy - Mark Hurst [68]
– Offer ASCII-friendly features. Tools should be able to import and export ASCII data without complaining. (In contrast, creating a text file in Word and attempting to save it in .txt format brings up a popup that warns the user about "formatting or password" features possibly being lost—even though the file contains only ASCII characters.54) Proprietary formats may be unavoidable in some tools, but wherever possible, users must have an easily accessed option to work with open formats like ASCII.
– Make common features keyboard-accessible. For example, in an e-mail program, the user should be able to open an e-mail, write a reply (either quoting or not quoting the original message, and either replying to all or just the sender), and send it, all without ever touching the mouse. Of course, applications should still allow users to access features and menus via the mouse, but users should have the option to pursue higher productivity by using the keyboard.
– Stop gratuitous attempts to lock in market share. There are many examples of this user-hostile practice in the technology industry, but the most prominent are probably Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office, which are "upgraded" every few years. Previous versions are usually incompatible with the upgrade, which pressures users to buy the new version. This makes Microsoft a lot of money, but it forces Microsoft developers to constantly invent new features that may not be necessary or relevant to users. Thus each upgrade tends to be slower, more bloated, and harder to use than the last version. This does little good for users, and it only works for Microsoft while its market remains non-competitive. On the other hand, Microsoft (or any other company) could win millions of enthusiastic customers worldwide by releasing new productivity tools that are designed for the long-term interest of the users, not the short-term interests of the company.
The above list is not exhaustive. Bit-literate developers must continually seek more ways to help users delete, defer, skip, omit, and in general let the bits go. In doing so, they will allow users to work in freer, healthier, and more productive ways.
Bit literacy is not a fanciful or unattainable ideal for developers to work toward. To the contrary, it's a principled philosophy that should inform design, engineering, and management at all levels. (It should start early, with universities teaching bit literacy to young engineers and designers as the new paradigm.) Developers should make bit literacy available to all users. No developer or tool should deny users a way to improve their productivity, and no company should prevent developers from working for the long-term best interest of their users. Bit-literate development is simply the right way to make technology today.
In the long run, though, bit literacy will likely be adopted by the technology industry because it's good business. Applications that treat their users best will, in the long run, win in their respective markets—as long as those markets are competitive. (In a monopoly or other non-competitive environment, the rule works in reverse; companies that lock in users tend to dominate, until the market inevitably opens up.) Bit literacy primarily works in favor of the individual user, but by extension it's also in favor of the corporations that serve users well. Companies operating with a long-term, user-centered