Asinine Use{less|r} Interfaces

[kaasirpent]

Me, using Kindle DX:

Menu
[Scroll down to and click]
Sync & Check for Items

Kindle DX:

Turn wireless on?
Your Kindle wireless is turned off. Do you want to turn wireless on?
[cancel] [ok]

Me:

"Well, duh. Didn't I just specifically . . . ?<sigh>
[Clicks [ok]]

Kindle DX:

[connects]
[syncs]
No new items.

I turn wireless back off and power down Kindle DX. I then grab my smaller Kindle and run through approximately the same steps, except I have to login on my work wifi, which means typing using the five-button interface, which blows, but hey.

Me, using Kindle 4:

[opens book]
[It's on the wrong page, because I read some of it on the DX. I want to sync.]
[menu]
[scrolls down to and selects]
Sync to Furthest Page Read

Kindle 4:

Syncing to Furthest Page Read

You are currently at location xx. The furthest read location is xxx, from "Gary's DX" at hh:mm PM EDT today. Go to that location?
[cancel] [ok]

Me:

[clicks on [ok]]

Kindle 4:

Are you sure you wish to...

No! By golly-gosh, I'm not sure! I just went through several minutes of deliberately navigating to and clicking on menu choices randomly and have no desire to do the goddamned thing I actually asked you to fucking do, and even verified that, yes, that is what I wanted to do!

<pant pant>

Sorry. But I just loathe it when people don't give design decisions much thought. When would I ever NOT want to sync after specifically asking it to sync? I can see not automatically syncing if, say, I were sharing the Kindle account with someone, and by syncing, I overwrote where I am with where they are. Or vice versa. But this?

GAH!

This is right up there with things like Windows interrupting your typing in one window to bring up another window. Because what I'm actively doing right now can't possibly be as important as whatever stupid thing the OS feels like I have to know, right now. I can't tell you how many times someone in a chat window has gotten something like

tVal = EDIT_SUCCESS;
return S_OK;

because they made the unpardonable error of IMing me with something like "Hey." and Windows thought, "Oh! He's typing code in his development window, but this IM is so much more important, so I'll just bring it up in the foreground and intercept the typing! Because that's a great idea!"

(Yes, I'm fairly sure Windows is sentient and really stupid. What? You can't prove it's not.)

<pant>

This has been a rant. We now return you to your regularly scheduled Internet, already in progress. Have a nice day.