[X-Newbies] Re: Reasons for names? (was: How to Use Mail & Address Book (was: No Subject))

[Charles Martin]

> From: Vincent Cayenne <vcayenne at mac.com>
>
> A touch of flu just in time to spoil my Christmas dinner, so I'm
> needlessly Scrooging here:

I guess that means I'm playing dear old Tiny Tim ... though it's been  
quite a while since I was tiny (especially after a fat xmas dinner!) :)

> ...except for Apple's raving insanity in naming applications: which
> geniuses signed off on the generic "Mail", "Address Book", and
> "Pages"?

"Mail" and "Address Book" draw their names quite specifically from  
the need for "newbies" to identify which applications they should use  
for these purposes. The icons (which are extremely obvious choices to  
you and me) perform the same function, which is why Apple puts them  
in the dock by default.


> 'Cause out in the
> real world, trying to use resources like Google to isolate anything
> involving those apps,

I find that using the term "Mail.app" or "Address Book.app" in quotes  
like that gets me the info I need on those two programs.


> Several applications have *an* address book, which must be noted as
> distinct from *the* Address Book app.

Yes, that does sometimes cause confusion, particularly for people  
transferring from Outlook/Entourage. But it really *is* quite silly  
for every internet-related app to have it's *own* address book, don't  
you think? The whole idea behind Apple's implementation is "enter the  
information ONE TIME and it applies to every (Apple) web app." It's a  
good idea, if not quite perfected yet. If Entourage would use Apple's  
Address Book instead of its easily-corrupted own, and if AOL users  
would transfer their AOL address book into Address Book using AOL  
Services for Macintosh that would solve 90% of the confusion issues  
right there.

> A conversation about a problem
> goes blooey at the "OK, now open Mail" point when the user launches
> their browser and goes to the web mail (or opens mail, in another
> client).

That's a rather dim client IMHO that they're not even aware that  
there IS a program called Mail on their Dock, but in any event I  
usually just instruct them to tell me the name of their email client,  
or if they don't have one, to "click on the Mail icon in the Dock --  
the one that looks like a postage stamp." That seems to work well.


> I think when the "i" prefix started being made fun of, Steve decided
> "OK, we'll just leave it off and see how you like it!".

iMust admit that iAgree with your supposition -- that there would be  
less confusion if Mail were called iMail and Address Book was called  
iAddress. Problem is that there are already copyrighted apps with  
those names, not to mention that Safari isn't called iBrowser, so I  
suppose they decided there's no point in trying to get everything  
with an "i" in front of it. They seem now to have decided that the  
only iApps now are part of the iLife suite (except, of course,  
Garageband).

> ** example "multi-application" technique: emailing a bunch of holiday
> photos to a family member.

This is actually an example of why I *love* Apple's implementation.  
Since Address Book allows me to "group" selected addresses together,  
all I have to do to send a photo (or photos) to a group of people is  
open a new email, drag the picture(s) in and type "Family" in the TO  
field. Done.

> Those who've been helping end users for any length of time are
> accustomed to the users' tendency to impart generic terms. It's not
> Internet Explorer or Mozilla FireFox, it's "my Internet". It's not
> Outlook Express, it's "my email". When these helpers hear Mac users
> say "Mail" and "Address Book", they're already leaping into
> clarification mode.

Yes, it can be confusing, but a little patience and the ability to  
ask clear, concise questions usually gets you the information you  
need. In the case of the terminally thick, I suggest installing a VNC  
server on their computer (with their permission, OF COURSE!) on your  
next visit -- that way you can "see" what they are doing, or do it  
yourself remotely if need be (which will show them what to do). Saves  
a LOT of aggravation.

Cheers
Chas