By people, I mean "Human Beings" of all levels of computer literacy and backgrounds, which is precisely Ubuntu's target demographic.
The point I was trying to make is that there was a time that people were unfamiliar with the idea of a shopping bag icon being used to represent a place to get both paid and free apps. At one point, everyone had to learn to use their Android phone. The metaphor worked in this case, so I believe that it would work in this case as well. It's not copying a successful model, it's taking something that users are either A) familiar with or B) will pick up on quickly. On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 23:28, gespert...@gmail.com <gespert...@gmail.com>wrote: > First: who is "people"? You need to define an audience. > Do you assume that newcomers are people who come from Android phones > to a desktop OS? > If Ubuntu's audience is computer literate people with smartphones and > previous experience with appstores that use a shopping bag as an icon, > then great. We're all set. > > But if your audience is regular people from any part of the globe, > coming from windows (where they're trying to sell you programs all the > time you have to surf the web for freebies), then things are > different. > As far as I can remember Ubuntu motto is "linux for human beings" and > the CD envelopes used to have a nice multi-racial circle of friends, > aiming to be inclusive and bring this operating system to anyone. > And if you ask me, the shopping bag icon isn't that. > If the audience is people who own a smartphone, then you're leaving > most of the humanity out of the frame. > Think what does a shopping bag mean to a third world country and > probably you'll get what I mean. > Forget the shopping bag became an icon for "acquiring goods". A > shopping bag is a shopping bag. If in this part of the world that icon > is familiar it's because we're used to buy things instead of just > getting them. > > Using the same shopping bag used by Android and Microsoft, Ubuntu only > shows it can't go beyond copying a "successful" model. It's not > original, it's not completely pertinent and it even doesn't look good > when it is reduced. > > > 2011/9/6 Ian Santopietro <isan...@gmail.com>: > > I don't think people necessarily associate shopping bags with paid apps. > > People using Android (Which uses a bag as it's icon) tend to get more > free > > apps than paid ones. They still use the Market icon, which looks like a > > shopping bag. I very rarely see any Android users opening up the browser > to > > go to the internet and look for some free .apks. > > > > On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 18:40, gespert...@gmail.com <gespert...@gmail.com > > > > wrote: > >> > >> 2011/9/6 Eylem Koca <eylemk...@gmail.com>: > >> > How about putting the U with the downward arrow > >> > (http://ubuntuone.com/30SgZIkoCLbxKWGhS2CUpY) on the side of the bag? > >> > >> Don't. Please. > >> I pointed an alternative to show that it is possible to come up with > >> something different than a shopping bag in a simple, readable manner. > >> Stuffing this simpler idea on an already cluttered icon with serious > >> problems in small sizes won't help. > >> If the meaning of the bag alone isn't enough to communicate the idea, > >> then it's not matter of adding elements to the bag, but to think a > >> difference alternative. > >> Remember that an icon needs to be as clear as possible to communicate > >> its function in different sizes. Simplicity favours that. > >> I'm so against the bag icon not because I think commerce is bad. I'm > >> against it because shopping apps ISN'T the primary function of our > >> software centre. > >> Other appstores have a strong commercial presence with several > >> freebies. Our "store" is quite different: we have lots of free > >> applications and very few commercial ones. > >> This can change in the future, of course, but in the meantime, the > >> icon communicate "enter here to buy applications" when it's not the > >> case. > >> Without an explaination, people could dismiss that icon thinking "I > >> don't want to buy applications, I'll go to the internet and see where > >> I can get some free .exes" :-p > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana > >> Post to : ayatana@lists.launchpad.net > >> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana > >> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp > > > > > > > > -- > > Ian Santopietro > > > > Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments. > > See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html > > > > "Eala Earendel enlga beorohtast > > Ofer middangeard monnum sended" > > > > Pa gur yv y porthaur? > > Public GPG key > > (RSA): > http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x412F52DB1BBF1234 > > > -- Ian Santopietro *Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments. See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html* "Eala Earendel enlga beorohtast Ofer middangeard monnum sended" Pa gur yv y porthaur? Public GPG key (RSA): http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x412F52DB1BBF1234
_______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ayatana Post to : ayatana@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ayatana More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
