Complexity v.s Simplicity

The iPhone looks complicated, because of all the functions, but I still wanted to get it, because it has a really cool touch screen and looks pretty and slim. But in order to understand it, I would have to sit there and play with it and try out its many functions. It would take at least 1 hour or 2 to completely know everything about it well enough to remember what I have done.

Board games should be easy to play and be fun play. Some of the board games I own at home are: Pictionary and the Cranium game. They were not easy to understand. Even though they came with instructions, they had so many steps to win the game. It made it hard for me to want to play it, which is not what is suppose to happen. But the fact that the games looked so interesting or because of the fact that the “package” looked interesting, I went ahead and bought it to try it out.

Video games, especially the Xbox 360 are hard to use also. If you don’t have experience, or a person who is not a video game fanatic, it will be hard to use an Xbox 360. The games are confusing to play. Just the simple fact of turning it on and off is confusing. I only bought it, because all of the people I knew that had them, said that it was so cool to play, and the games were so fun. But I never knew it would be so hard to understand how to use the Nintendo.

Electronics, especially computers, have about over one hundred uses and you need to have a little bit of experience before you use them. I remember my first time using a computer. I had to type an essay and I didn’t know how to get to the Microsoft word. I didn’t know anything about having to type the letters, the use of a space bar, backspace, capitalizing letters, and using symbols and punctuations. My friend had to sit with me and tell me what to do. But, because they are so useful and necessary, it is understandable for them to be complex.

Simplicity has to be found in products that are used everyday, many times during a day. Like utensils, coffee and tea makers, and microwaves. Some electronics: television, DVD players, laptops, have to be easy to use also. Even though you won’t use them every single day, they still need to be simple enough to remember how to use it.

“One product that I found appealing due to its complexity would be the Sidekick LX, when it was first introduced to the world. The flipping of the screen always intrigued me, especially after seeing my friends using it during high school. When I first used it, the visibility for the flip was confusing. The screen seems like it can be flipped both ways, but there are hinges on the left side, so it can only flip to the right. Also, the buttons on the sides are not labeled, which made the process even more complicated. After I figured out how to work it though, I decided that I did not need one, because I could find a phone that is less complicated, but with more features. Hence, me and the Blackberry Curve have finally united.”- Dion

I agree with Dion’s point about the complexity of a Sidekick LX, because when I first got my Sidekick LX, I had no idea how to use it. All I knew about it was that the screen can flip, and I knew the direction the screen was suppose to flip, because both of my sisters had the old version sidekicks. The buttons on the side are confusing, because, as Dion said, they are not labeled. But when you press the button you will see what pops up on the screen and you can automatically see what it is for. The Sidekick LX has many functions, but you can work those functions by using the eight buttons that it has on the outside, and then by using the keyboard that is shown after the screen if flipped. It is not so difficult to use after you get the hang of it, but if a person has no knowledge of a Sidekick, they will probably not know what to do with it.