RE: Emacs learning curve

[Drew Adams]

> > The question of whether to consider scrolling from the 
> > point of view of the view port / window or the point of
> > view of the paper / data surface / buffer (which
> > is moving?) is as old as the hills.  And the answer 
> > sometimes depends on the particular application in a
> > logical way (think cockpit); otherwise it is arbitrary.
> 
> I thought sensible systems always did it from the point of 
> view of the human user, ergo human-centered systems.

Of course, but what is the point of view of the human user?

It depends on the application and what the user is doing, where s?he "naturally"
places her point of view.  In some graphics domains it sometimes makes sense to
take the point of view of the paper (object) and not the view port; in other
contexts, vice versa.

"The human" is neither the view port nor the paper, and can identify with
either, whichever is more convenient/pertinent to the task at hand.

For things like scrolling, there is no "correct", "natural", or "human" point of
view (IMO).  Witness the number of scrolling implementations with both
orientations developed over the years.

Now if one of the orientations becomes much more widely used, then everyone
becomes used to it and it does indeed appear natural, human-oriented, normal. Of
course.  But there is nothing inherently more natural or human about either
(IMO).

A Brit in Yankland or a Yank in Britland can easily relate to this when trying
to cross the street or drive.  What seems so natural to the one is alien to the
other.  These side-of-the-road conventions are basically arbitrary (yes, I know
the history, but for practical purposes we can call it a toss-up).

And yet! And yet one side of the road really _does_ feel natural and human - the
side you are used to.