I don't disagree with the goal of simplicity for the youngest users (as you probably remember from other mails). I do feel that young users need such a constrained browsing experience because they can't type well and have literacy issues (can't spell urls correctly), that this should demarcate browse to be a case like TamTam where there are two alternatives. I also think many people solve the problem of young users by making a "home page" that presents constrained alternatives with icons. This is why I believe that Moodle will have to have a much simpler theme on a school server than any I have seen so far.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 5:01 PM, Bobby Powers <<a href="mailto:bobbypowers@gmail.com">bobbypowers@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c">On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 7:58 PM, Eben Eliason <<a href="mailto:eben.eliason@gmail.com">eben.eliason@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> 2008/7/7 Carol Lerche <<a href="mailto:cafl@msbit.com">cafl@msbit.com</a>>:<br>
>> The UI seems pretty important to me, but obviously that's a matter of<br>
>> taste. Not everyone likes tabbed browsing. Correct operation of websites<br>
>> that fail with the extant browser. Direct availability of plugins and<br>
>> addons. One example: scrapbook, a superb research tool. Another example<br>
>> Google Gears (according to a recent mail being ported, presumably because<br>
>> the browser is not standard). I am not familiar with the Firefox codebase,<br>
>> and perhaps all these things are directly available so long as the Firefox 3<br>
>> engine is there, but if so, there desperately needs to be a detailed body of<br>
>> documentation telling how to access these capabilities.<br>
><br>
> I certainly acknowledge that a) the sparse UI isn't for everyone and<br>
> b) the UI is young and still needs some more work (and more features).<br>
> It started out bare bones, and is slowly gaining important features<br>
> as we go (recently URI autocompletion, find in page text, foundational<br>
> support for global bookmarks, and other features appeared!). It<br>
> should also be noted that tabs were part of the initial design, and<br>
> were taken out both to prevent abuse of RAM and because we thought<br>
> that it might be confused adjacent to the link sharing feature, which<br>
> we felt was a really important addition for our target audience and<br>
> collaborative learning. I'd consider adding them in light of recent<br>
> engine improvements, assuming we can prove that kids navigate them<br>
> naturally.<br>
><br>
> Additionally, I'd love to see other individuals with interest porting<br>
> other browsers to the XO. I think someone was working on this with<br>
> Opera. Perhaps a more full featured Firefox could also be Sugarized.<br>
> However, we designed the current Browse as is to be purposely sparse,<br>
> to give kids the basics without overloading them with things that<br>
> could get in the way. I think there's a place for Browse as a default<br>
> browser, especially for kids under 8 or so, even if other more complex<br>
> browsers appear as viable alternatives.<br>
<br>
</div></div>+1<br>
<br>
> - Eben<br>
><br>
</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck -- George Carlin