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Originally posted by trap_jaw4
I suggest you go reading user complaints in these forums. How many posings that go like "Can't download!", "Can't search!" or "Always awaiting sources" would you find? And how many postings saying "Help! LimeWire is too ugly" are you seeing? |
Yes. I see users saying they can't connect but in reality, limewire is
-either connecting but doesn't find a good host before the users give up and quits
-or not connected at all because user unchecked the 'connect at startup' checkbox
these are issues of users not understanding what's going on. limewire is not transparent.
or the people looking at the dropped i/o column and assuming that something is wrong since 90% incoming is dropped.
or the people looking at the transfer column wondering what the number before and after the / means, with no way of finding it out.
or the people wondering whether their uploads fail because they always only go to around 4% and then stop.
These posts have been there, I assume you've seem similar ones yourself. These are all interface issues.
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These columns are hidden because their information is not useful for the average user. For the expert, the info is not misleading at all. Information about successful/failed uploads etc should be in the advanced statistics (at least they are in the cvs version) but those stats are not very useful for the average user, either.
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The fact that a column is hidden by default does not mean users are not going to see it. And, IMO, users are entitled to know whether their uploads are succesful or not, actually, i think it's crucial. It's weird to leave your PC on 24/7 and giving your bandwidth
without knowing what's going on.
Its sometimes easily solvable problems like naming a column 'attempted/succeeded uploads' instead of 'uploads' (I know, there's a space issue). Or removing a resume button, for that matter. There has been confusion about that in the forum, too.
It seems that programmers tend to have a hard time imagining that users see things with different eyes, because they lack the knowledge of underlying processes that make everything seem 'simple' and 'logical' to people who actually
write software. That's why you use MLdonkey and people like me don't. Imagine what cars would look like if they were designed by engineers (I am talking about the styling, interior, positioning of the instruments, levers, knobs etc., not the mechanics). It would be a desaster in the market, despite possible superior technology. That's why voila's idea was good to get somebody to
specifically deal with user experience. Preferrably somebody who is not tainted by an excessively deep understanding of the underlying technology.
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I really don't know about all the other vendors but I assume most vendors do the same, to be able to preview files as good as possible. |
I have been using Shareaza for a while (before it turned into a cult): Limewire (2.9.x) downloaded in chunks that are spread all across the file, so do other servents. I know that because shareaza's progress bar's reflect where the chunks you're uploading are located within the file.
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Then the solution is better documentation. |
Agreed. This would also save us a lot of work in the forum.