[plt-scheme] The perfect teaching language--Is this too much to ask for?

On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 2:06 PM, Luciano Ramalho<ramalho at gmail.com> wrote:
> The price of parenthetical syntax is a violation of a basic principle
> of usability stated by Donald Normal in his book "The Design of
> Everyday Things": things that are similar should look similar, things
> that are different should look different (I don't have the book with
> me now, so this is not a verbatim quote).

I mistyped the name of the author: it's Donald Norman, of course. The
book is this:

http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/0385267746

In the book, Norman illustrates the idea that different things should
look different with a wonderful photograph from the control panel of a
power plant. The panel is full of gauges, dials and has two large
control levers, which look exactly alike but do totally different
thinks. So the operators of the power plant fitted tap handles with
two different beer brands on the levers, to make them easier to tell
apart.

Cheers,

Luciano