Re: What has changed in the Apple world last 6 months?

[tturner@ecn.ab.ca ()]

dev.null@personal.information.com wrote:
: Tom Zuchowski <tzuchow@attglobal.net> wrote:
: > Reread my message. Resizing huge images may not be a common activity in most
: > businesses, but big, high-resolution screens are a proven productivity
: > enhancer. Anyone who has used Excel at 640x400 and then moved to a 1280x768
: > desktop on a big CRT will know exactly what I am talking about. I can think
<snip>

: I'm sorry, but I really must side with the anti-eye-candy camp.  Why?

: First, I will gladly bring any study which compares Excel at 640x480 with
: excell at 1280x768 into question (or anything which compares one program
: to itself).  The only way such studies would hold weight is if you are
: planning to use Excel in the first place.  Modern applications simply are
: not designed to handle small screens.  If you look at a semi-modern word
<snip>

--> I get the impression that there is a blending of the two `sides'
    in this - or possibly some mis-interpretation (or that may just
    be me); but I'd like to point out that resolution and size, are
    similar and yet different. I went from a 17" monitor at work to
    a 19" monitor; so that I could `finally' go to 800x600; as that
    resolution on the 17" was to hard on my eyes. On the 17", I was
    using 640x480 as part of a comfortable working environment; but
    the data-base front-ends I was building for end-users had to be
    designed for 800x600; as that was the standard across the floor
    and having to switch back-&-forth, was having an effect upon my
    efficiency, etc. When they set me up with a 19" then I was able
    to use the 800x600 much more effectively.

    So using 800x600 on a 14" monitor may give someone more screen
    real-estate; but only if they can read it without going blind.
    I've seen some end-users on the floor using 1280x1084 on a 15"
    monitor and having lots of screen real-estate and that's great
    for them - they're young and have good eyes. 

    And as to spreadsheets - that's _the_ number one reason to use
    a higher resolution. More cells on screen; with the higher the
    resolution used. T'would be similar for desktop publishing I'm
    sure; but word processing doesn't benefit from more resolution
    AFAIC; as once one can see all margins, with sufficient letter
    size (readability); then any higher resolution will perform no
    useful purpose other than letting workers two cubicles away be
    able to clearly read what you're writing. Not ALL `modern soft
    ware can benefit from greater resolution. I also saw this with
    TXT-based screens (ye olde green-screen) - spreadsheets showed
    more cells with a higher resolution and, again, if the monitor
    was `too small' - then the benefit gained by having more cells
    was countered by the shrinking of the onscreen character size.

--
E.A.G.L.E Librarian A3 BBS:403/481-3133  email:tturner@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca