The Other Drummer

I’d like to apologize. I try to fill this site with beautiful things like this, this, this, this and this. But today, I must defile it with this post. I’m sorry. But it has to be done.

What you see above is HP’s website. It’s hideous. It’s confusing. It’s headache inducing. It makes me want to run in the other direction and take multiple showers.

I’m currently browsing their website to help my sister pick out a sub-$500 laptop (this is charity work people…don’t look at me that way). Since I’m shocked and disgusted and a blogger, I have no choice but to share my experience with you here. What follows is a series of screenshots I encountered trying to navigate this labyrinth of eye strain.

Warning: the site looks like it was done completely in HTML circa 1999 and the following images are not for the faint of heart. Comments are below each image.

Pass the crystal ball

Someone please explain to me what “-Smart Buy- HP ProBook 4520s Notebook PC (ENERGY STAR) XT943UT#ABA $425 Instant Savings until 1/31/11!” means and why it’s written in 36 pt. plain text. Thanks.

Non-starter Upsell

HP really expects me to read through all that crap to upsell myself based on product numbers and obscure product descriptions?

Also, they say “Enjoy the benefits of partner products” but don’t actually list any benefits.

Here’s some free advice. Instead of:

“AT912UT#ABA HP 2 GB 13333 MHz PC3-10600 DDR3 SODIMM – Smart Buy [Add $89.00]“

write,

“Speed up your computer with more memory for $89.00. Learn more.”

Warranty Overkill

Seven different warranties to sort through? Seven??

The way it should be done

“But…it’s so…simple!”

Yup.

After this mess I’m recommending she get an iPad. All she wants/needs to do is Facebook, email and writing papers. She can do all that with an external keyboard on an iPad for less than a crappy HP laptop. Plus she needs an new iPod. Done.

For all its wonderful design and niceties (and there are many), one über frustrating thing about the iPhone (and to a lesser extent, Android) is the obnoxious “set-a-time-via-scroll-wheel” interface.

At first it was kind of novel since multitouch was new – flicking those little tumblers was fun. Now I hate it as each time I want to add something to my calendar or set an alarm, I have to scroll two wheels around like a rotary phone to find the correct numbers.

Just give me a friggin’ 10-key interface and let me type in the time I want my alarm to go off please.

What do you think? Do you love it? You love it. I can tell. Does it make you want to buy contemporary casual clothes? No? Why not? Gap thinks it will.

You can make your own Gap logo at MakeYourOwnGapLogo.com. And see what everyone else thinks of the new Gap logo on Twitter.

Thanks to @cameronmoll for the link.

This is a prototype remote control Sony designed in the early 80s to be used on space shuttle Atlantis while in orbit. Unfortunately, NASA engineers (all smart people with PhDs in subjects like physics, engineering, aeronautics) found it to be too confusing and cumbersome. As a result, Sony lost the lucrative government contract.

Fortunately, it bounced back quickly, released the Walkman and has had an otherwise impressive design history.

Wait. No. This is the remote control Sony designed for the upcoming Google TV, scheduled to be released later this year (2010 AD) and used by everyday people who just want to watch Dancing with the Stars and 30 Rock.

It will ship with this TV:

That’s a beautiful TV. What happend to the remote??

Sony, for future reference I would like to direct your attention to Vizio, your low-cost, made in the USA competitor offers who offers this remote which 1. doesn’t frighten small children 2. doesn’t look like it should fly model airplanes and 3. looks like it was designed this side of the millennial divide.

If you would like any additional device (or would like me to give feedback on new/unreleased products) my consulting fees are reasonable.

I love it when people find new ways to do/use the things we’ve been doing the same way for ages.

Via Swiss-Miss.