Post #2597320

2025-11-05 19:01 UTC

Like, Windows documentation once upon a time was world-class, it was on-device, available at any moment and excellent. Today "Help" is a hyperlink to trash. On a modern Mac, you can ask a question and get a few 'maybe' bullet points for your trouble. On System7 - the _stone_ age - the _OS would walk you through each step_ of solving your problem. It would say, click this thing and then draw a little circle around the thing. Apple's reputation comes from this period, when nobody was ever afraid.

Replies (5)

@mhoye@mastodon.social 2025-11-05 19:18

Instead we’re moving fast, or at least running in circles, and eroding things that I think are going to matter over the long term, like trust and confidence in our industry, consistency, stability and reliability, pluralist democracy, you know. Basic good-repair-of-society stuff like that.

Open ##2597321
@yoasif@mastodon.social 2025-11-05 19:18

@mhoye@mastodon.social I miss balloon help.

Open ##2597341
@dabeaz@mastodon.social 2025-11-05 21:16

@mhoye@mastodon.social I remember at one point I was the only person in the CS department who could print documents on Windows machine to a printer attached to a Unix machine. When asked about this sorcery, I just said I used Windows "help" and followed its instructions exactly.

Open ##2597358
@amt@hachyderm.io 2025-11-05 22:12

@mhoye@mastodon.social insert MSDN CD 3/4

Open ##2597371
@billseitz@toolsforthought.social 2025-11-05 22:37

@mhoye@mastodon.social I think Apple spent a decade hoping that Macs would end up running iOS. (Of course, phones suck, too.)

Open ##2597372