Walt Mossberg Quotes

One of the problems with computers, particularly for the older people, is they were befuddled by them, and the computers have gotten better. They have gotten easier to use. They have gotten less expensive. The software interfaces have made things a lot more accessible.

More than any other modern tool, computers are a total mystery to their users. Most people never open them up to fix them or to see how they work.

Why is it that I notice so many brilliant scientists using Macs for their personal computers; why does the Lawrence Livermore & Berkeley Labs buy millions of dollars worth of Macs?

Software is now so complex - requiring so many gazillions of tiny files all over your computer - that most consumers don't want to bother to know what's really going on.

It's important to be informed about issues like usability, reliability, security, privacy, and some of the inherent limitations of computers.

You don't have to know how to build an automobile or a television set or a laptop to know how to use it.

I've been using a computer for quite some time, and I don't understand everything.

I have sometimes thought the power of computers had exceeded our ability to use them, but Mr. Jobs and his team kept giving us devices that made indispensable things easier in ways you never thought of.

This Windows 95 hairball has become so big, so unmanageable, so hard to use, so hard to configure, so hard to keep up and running, so hard to keep secure. Windows 95 is a great gift to give your kid this Christmas because it will keep your kid fascinated for months trying to get it up and running and trying to figure out how to use it.

This is what customers pay us for - to sweat all these details so it's easy and pleasant for them to use our computers. We're supposed to be really good at this. That doesn't mean we don't listen to customers, but it's hard for them to tell you what they want when they've never seen anything remotely like it.

I appreciate all the devices the Windows people are coming up with, but the operating system... I just want to smash it.

Linux is its own worst enemy: it's splintered, it has different distributions, it's too complex to run for most people.

I've been using the Mac solely for years, and got very comfortable with it.

Macintosh felt like a system. As I learned more, I felt like I was able to guess how new things would work. I felt like the bugs in my programs were more my bugs and not things I misunderstood.

When designers replaced the command line interface with the graphical user interface, billions of people who are not programmers could make use of computer technology.

I use Windows; '98 second edition and it works very good for me. You know, I just started on the computer about 9 months ago and am fascinated with the possibilities. I don't know what I would do without it now.

I have a cell phone that doesn't behave like a phone: It behaves like a computer that makes calls. Computers are becoming an integral part of daily life. And if people don't start designing them to be more user-friendly, then an even larger part of the population is going to be left out of even more stuff.

Computers are scary. They're nightmares to fix, lose our stuff, and, on occasion, they crash, producing the blue screen of death. Steve Jobs knew this. He knew that computers were bulky and hernia-inducing and Darth Vader black. He understood the value of declarative design.

I'm a techno moron. I need help just to plug in my video camera.

The guy who knows about computers is the last person you want to have creating documentation for people who don't understand computers.

Windows Updates have sometimes been a pain point for users. The update pop-ups can interrupt a movie or a video game, and the automatic restarts can result in lost data or confused users.

Good design begins with honesty, asks tough questions, comes from collaboration and from trusting your intuition.

I got tired of people complaining that it was too hard to use UNIX because the editor was too complicated.

Any product that needs a manual to work is broken.

Gee, I am a complete Luddite when it comes to computers, I can barely log on!