[LAU] A defence of the straight line

[Fons Adriaensen]

On Wed, Aug 09, 2017 at 03:35:46PM +0200, Ralf Mardorf wrote:

> ...
> I never ever would even care about a K-meter, let alone about any obscure
> graph. Those are just fashions.

K-meters just show a linear color bar (RMS) and a dot (peak). Couldn't
be simpler... What are you talking about ?

Of course they can be implemted in different ways. Just compare jkmeter
and the K-meters you find in Ardour. The difference is in the details,
but they matter.

> It's possible to provide those fancy graphs and consumers like it.

Maybe. I'm not so sure about that. 

> Good GUIs for audio would look like those for military gear, planes
> and ships.

With that I'd agree 100%. A GUI should be purely functional, with
layout, widgets, colors, fonts, etc. designed in way that provides
the user with the information that matters without him/her having
to actively look for it. A lot of the 'communication' provided by
a good GUI is subliminal, it works without the user being aware
of it.

I've studied 'glass cockpit' user interfaces (the ones you find
in Airbusses and Boeings, not the 'amateur' ones) in depth. They
lack any form of eye candy. But they are extremely informative
and easy to read, even in conditions when information overload
is a real risk. And that's by design.

Ciao,

-- 
FA

A world of exhaustive, reliable metadata would be an utopia.
It's also a pipe-dream, founded on self-delusion, nerd hubris
and hysterically inflated market opportunities. (Cory Doctorow)