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	Simplicity How Not to Fall Off the Web Page Learning Curve Technological Interfaces vs. Reality? The main problem facing interface designers is that they still are chasing the unreachable goal of reality. Computers have the problem of requiring extensions of the body. To use a computer, you need to use more than your hands or eyes. A mouse, a joystick, even a VR glove needs extra technical expertise to use. Other technology products don't require extensions, like the musical keyboard. If the machine is on, even a baby can use it. You simply press the keys and it makes sound. With its shallow learning curve, anyone not accostomed to technology could learn to use it in mere minutes. To have that sort of usability has been the goal of the computer industry's last 20 years. XEROX's PARC division and Apple made leaps ahead in Graphic User Interfaces, which led to the Macintosh and later Windows. Now, with the dawn of the Internet, the pressure is on to create a computer usable by everyone. Cheap Net-only machines are a temporary answer, but people really need a hard drive, CD-ROM, etc. The OS's themselves aren't advancing fast enough, so any advancements are made with applications. Some good examples: RealAudio: When CD-ROM drives became popular, a basic interface was developed for playing Audio CDs on a computer. It looked exactly like a stereo control panel, so it was easy for non-computer types to use. RealAudio and other Net music-playing programs ported that design over. The fact that it's an embedded plug-in makes it easier, not requiring another program to launch. The autoplay feature, although sometimes annoying, reaches the goal in simplicity: not even having to think about it. TrackMan OCR: This little gadget, though not particularly useful now, may likely be the future of the Net. This ergonomic remote control for the web is wireless, and let's you surf from across the room. Using a lower technology item like the remote control is one of the first step toward a push-button computer. So what does this mean to you as a web developer? The way to have newbie browsers use your page and be productive (read: have no problems) is to make sure the page is logically organized and usable. If your page serves a single function, that's good. Change the interface so it would be as easy as possible for tech virgins to use, for as the Internet grows, more and more computer-illiterate people will be trying to use your page. Having a site everyone can use may be the edge to having your page be popular.	Web Graphics: A How to Guide Part 2 Web Graphics: A How to Guide Part 1 Neat. Making a Good Page This is Madness! A Fable Testing... Everyone Should Be Able To See Your Page -- Well Web Page Makeovers: The Rules of Web Design Netscape Vs. Microsoft and the Great Tag Debate A Real Retro Web Page Fonts and the Future of Web Design Simplicity: How Not To Fall Off the Web Page Learning Curve