On Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:01:43 -0800, Jay in the Mojave
wrote:

|james wrote:
| On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 05:15:50 -0800, Jay in the Mojave
| wrote:
|
| |This is managements fault for not having a separate group test and
| |evaluate the radio before production. And there is no excuse for this as
| |there are way too many fat, over stuffed, self centered, arrogant,
| |unemployed hams out there that can test the radios before production.
| |
| |--------------
|
| you are right that it is management's fault but for the wrong reasons.
| I have worked on projects where the senior manager has defined a major
| portion of the look and feel of a product and no matter how much human
| engineering has told them that thngs need to change, they don't. Get a
| senior manager that has enough time and respect and given enough power
| can lead to egos that in the end can produce a lousy product.
|
| james
|
|Hello James:
|
|Management is in charge and has the responsibility to make the best, or
|most profitable product possible. The "Buck" stops with management
|period. If Management turns their back on human engineering, there is
|some major wrong things happening.
|
|==================

Sometimes mangers,as well as engineers, fall in love to much with
their designs and are very short sighted. They feel their designs are
better than others. This is kind of what I tried to get across. In the
end the management team is often held responsible for final decisions
on designs as their sucesses and failures.


|Aircraft Cockpit button-ology and fast and accurate pilot response times
|is a must for combat pilot and aircraft to preform with the required
|edge. The aircraft manufactures have what is called a "Cockpit
|Committee" Where the chief test pilot chairs the committee with customer
|pilots and such to audit, refine, reject, throw out, have made better,
|.....ect ect. To make the aircraft a workable weapon. If the software
|guys had there way it would take 106 button pushes to perform the
|simplest things. The Cockpit Committee has the authority to make the
|hardware designers and software engineering groups make the aircraft
|work with the right stuff.
|
|=================

Comparing consumer electronics to military hardware is not very
appropriate. Military hardware has the luxury of larger budgets and
one customer. Consumer Electronics is a design for an average of many
different users.


|I just bought a new type scanner for trunk tracking, and general all
|round monitoring. What a different way of doing things. I had to relearn
|a few things. But still the scanner radio is user hostile. But if a
|complex combat cockpit can be made to be user friendly, then so can a
|radio.
|
|Many amateur radios are way too complicated as the manufacture leans on
|the hardware designers and software guys to make it all work with less
|buttons then on my shirt. A sad mistake.
|
|===================

I have been on the desing of electronics where one has to do a lot
with three or four buttons. It becomes a blend of software and
hardware to acheive the desired goal. Sometimes there is no correct or
incorrect solutions. There are just means of accomplishing a goal.
What one finds objectionable others may find acceptable. It then
becomes finding the happy middle.

To me the most significant use of a small number of buttons is in text
messaging on cell phones. What ended up was the ITAP system of text
communications that took advantage of the limitations of hardware
design in a telephone keypad.

james