Comments on: The Empathy Factor: A lesson for the e-book biz from The Great Ubuntu-Girlfriend experiment http://www.teleread.org/2008/04/28/the-empathy-factor-a-lesson-for-the-e-book-biz-from-the-great-ubuntu-girlfriend-experiment/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Fri, 19 Mar 2010 02:58:45 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: David Rothman http://www.teleread.org/2008/04/28/the-empathy-factor-a-lesson-for-the-e-book-biz-from-the-great-ubuntu-girlfriend-experiment/comment-page-1/#comment-777960 David Rothman Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:24:43 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/04/28/the-empathy-factor-a-lesson-for-the-e-book-biz-from-the-great-ubuntu-girlfriend-experiment/#comment-777960 Brian, Ubantu could remain pure, but the installation procedures perhaps could be more explicit--even if the Flash isn't built in. People ought be prepared to encounter situations like YouTube. Obviously the GF in this case wasn't. Meanwhile I hope that your wife has fun with Ubantu, and that it will be simple enough in the future for nontechies without assistance! I'm really rooting for Ubuntu to succeed long term. Cheers, David Brian, Ubantu could remain pure, but the installation procedures perhaps could be more explicit–even if the Flash isn’t built in. People ought be prepared to encounter situations like YouTube. Obviously the GF in this case wasn’t.

Meanwhile I hope that your wife has fun with Ubantu, and that it will be simple enough in the future for nontechies without assistance! I’m really rooting for Ubuntu to succeed long term.

Cheers,
David

]]> By: Brian Carnell http://www.teleread.org/2008/04/28/the-empathy-factor-a-lesson-for-the-e-book-biz-from-the-great-ubuntu-girlfriend-experiment/comment-page-1/#comment-777888 Brian Carnell Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:33:08 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/blog/2008/04/28/the-empathy-factor-a-lesson-for-the-e-book-biz-from-the-great-ubuntu-girlfriend-experiment/#comment-777888 I just wanted to make certain this was clear, David, as you allude to it but don't really state it this straightforwardly. The reason that Ubuntu doesn't ship with Flash appears to be because it is not open-source. Presumably in happy Open Source Land users would only need to watch RMSTube which would be streamed in Ogg! And while I don't agree with it, there is something to the argument made by OS fanatics that using a closed CODEC to watch video isn't all that different from using a DRMed Kindle to read a book. Either way, there are often onerous legal and technical constraints that limit what the end-user can do (the main difference being the CODEC-related issues are not as obvious and don't have a cleaer day-to-day impact the way that DRM does). No I'm not going to throw out all my MP3s and Divx videos, but I can see their point. Anyway, I am writing this in Ubuntu and considering switching all my comps (including my wife's) to Ubuntu. No, she probably couldn't figure out how to install Flash even though she's probably a bit more technical than the woman in the post. OTOH, she also couldn't figure out how to access the networked printer in the basement under Windows either (whereas Ubuntu found it automatically -- they've done a nice job at least of improving *that*). Overall, Ubuntu is very close to being as functional as XP. I figure either way we're going to have to abandon XP sooner or later, and Vista reviews aren't exactly glowing. It could definitely use a second package maybe a "Everything Your GF Will Need to Make it Usable" to install afterward. I just wanted to make certain this was clear, David, as you allude to it but don’t really state it this straightforwardly. The reason that Ubuntu doesn’t ship with Flash appears to be because it is not open-source. Presumably in happy Open Source Land users would only need to watch RMSTube which would be streamed in Ogg!

And while I don’t agree with it, there is something to the argument made by OS fanatics that using a closed CODEC to watch video isn’t all that different from using a DRMed Kindle to read a book. Either way, there are often onerous legal and technical constraints that limit what the end-user can do (the main difference being the CODEC-related issues are not as obvious and don’t have a cleaer day-to-day impact the way that DRM does). No I’m not going to throw out all my MP3s and Divx videos, but I can see their point.

Anyway, I am writing this in Ubuntu and considering switching all my comps (including my wife’s) to Ubuntu. No, she probably couldn’t figure out how to install Flash even though she’s probably a bit more technical than the woman in the post. OTOH, she also couldn’t figure out how to access the networked printer in the basement under Windows either (whereas Ubuntu found it automatically — they’ve done a nice job at least of improving *that*).

Overall, Ubuntu is very close to being as functional as XP. I figure either way we’re going to have to abandon XP sooner or later, and Vista reviews aren’t exactly glowing. It could definitely use a second package maybe a “Everything Your GF Will Need to Make it Usable” to install afterward.

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