RE: Green-screen versus browser

["Lim Hock-Chai" <Lim.Hock-Chai@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

If you ask a user that is a expert both DOS base and GUI base Excel to create a 
same Excel spreadsheet in both version of Excel, he is likely to be able to 
complete it faster in the DOS version.  However, the doesn't means that the DOS 
base Excel is better.

The question is how the app is designed.


-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Douglas Handy
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 10:16 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: Green-screen versus browser


Nathan,

>Each measurement has an associated popup,
> enabling all measurements to be recorded with just two
> (2) mouse clicks.  

> Something like this challenges the conventional wisdom
> that 5250 is always more efficient for data entry.

I disagree. Anyone familar with a 10-key number pad will run circles
around the mouse clicks by just keying the two digit value.  You can
do that much faster than you can navigate the mouse to the proper
value, and likely have a lower error rate.  (It looks pretty easy to
click on the wrong value in he 01 to 99 popup to me, if you are trying
to move the mouse fast enough to be efficient at this process.)

Of course, the browser could have input fields too instead of a popup.

I think it can be argued that a GUI interface is easier to train to
newbies, but rarely will mouse activies be faster than a trained
keyboard user.  (I will say that I do like the ability to have
accelerator keys to move the cursor to specific input fields.  And
from that standpoint a GUI *can* be more efficient for even keyboard
data entry.  But few people seem to design GUI screens with proper
keyboard accelerators, which is another of my pet peeves...)

Doug