Since I invariably wind up getting “name suits” types of comments, here’s the explanation behind it:

Around the turn of the millennium, I was trying to come up with a username to use on a particular site that had a shortish character count limit for usernames. My goal was something related to the fact that I would often be making my points in arguments with “holier-than-thou” types by taking what they were saying, and turning it on its head so the offensive stuff was directed back at them.

I also happened to learn shortly beforehand that many years ago “'ape” was somewhat commonly used as a verb to mean “imitate” or “copy.”

I’m sure you can figure the rest out.

  • 0 Posts
  • 78 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
cake
Cake day: August 17th, 2024

help-circle



















  • I’m aware why it happens, but if even you are aware then that means you know what I’ve said is true. As such, it seems you also should know that you’re not designing for the best interface, but just the one that the largest proportion of the masses are able to use well enough to win out over alternatives in a quest for market domination. Dumbed-down wins in the numbers game, but isn’t necessarily the “best” interface.

    Another part in the numbers game is cost. As someone reminded me recently, the “best” solutions rarely win over ones that are “good enough,” but cost the end users less. Technology’s history is veritably littered with superior options that lost out against their competition because of such cost differences. This is part of how Android became so dominant over the objectively much easier to use (earlier in, anyway - things have since improved somewhat) iOS. Google included almost everything one might need for free - all you had to pay was your privacy.