Shaunak's Dimension

Undo Software Entropy, Normalize the Speed Dial

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 1:29:11 PM

Each time software manufacturers try to 're-invent' their product and do some 'new-thinking', they end up changing the interface so drastically that the brain's of habituated users are forced into shock, as it tries desperately to understand why something that worked so beautifully and was so natural to their muscle memories, had to be tampered with. Tampered to the extent that it becomes unpleasant to the user.

Microsoft did it with the Office Ribbon, Nokia with Symbiam and Google with Youtube. But not talking about those products right now. Right now, my brain is paralyzed in shock as it stares at the new horrible speed dial in the latest version of Opera.

Now till these software companies do not fully comprehend the "Don't fix it if it ain't broke" philosophy, you and I will simply have to re-train our brains.

Opera user Pesala offers some help with some life-saving settings:
http://my.opera.com/community/forums/findpost.pl?id=9117202
These basically attempt to restore the speed dial to its former glory. Try these out, they work well. (Well enough, anyway)

And anybody on the Opera crew, if you are reading this. The new speed dial is miserable, IMHO. There is no sweeter way to put it.

My main dislikes:
1. Slower. Much Slower.
2. Zoomed in thumbnails look miserable.
3. Previous format was better.
4. No transparency.

I wanted to make this constructive, but my shocked brain simply refuses not to be harsh. I am sorry for that, but really Opera crew, the new speed dial - is not #WINNING.

The Japan SituationSunday by the Sea

Comments

Harry...the man!harrytheman Wednesday, April 13, 2011 4:15:43 PM

So...not a good idea to upgrade my Opera browser to the latest version, then! I'm always using the speed dial.

Shaunak DeShaunak Wednesday, April 13, 2011 4:31:21 PM

Totally. I was fully satisfied with the previous version and upgrading was a mistake.

But then again, change is the way of the universe.

Liu Wednesday, April 13, 2011 6:51:27 PM

Thank you Shaunak ! I'm not that much fast when it is about upgrades, I often prefer to wait and hear about before to rush and to be disappointed. Especially with Opera !! down

Mad Scientist (عادل)qlue Wednesday, April 13, 2011 10:45:36 PM

He you're using Ubuntu, don't upgrade. left.
opera crashed three times tonight (lastnight?) in three different ways. irked.
And their crash-reporting wizard seems to be broken as it didn't kick in once! cry.
And the speed dial appears to be an attempt to look like an iPhone. yuck.

slackwrdave Thursday, April 14, 2011 12:49:32 AM

Originally posted by Shaunak:

they end up changing the interface so drastically that the brain's of habituated users are forced into shock,


For some reason Gnome/Unity comes to mind. I like the potential, but in the short term, I hate it.

As for Speed Dial, I rarely use it, so I can bury my head in the sand for now.

Shaunak DeShaunak Thursday, April 14, 2011 2:36:29 AM

Originally posted by slackwrdave:

I rarely use it, so I can bury my head in the sand for now.



I am probably going to bury my head in Chrome for a few days wink

slackwrdave Thursday, April 14, 2011 2:52:59 AM

Originally posted by Shaunak:

I am probably going to bury my head in Chrome for a few days


I'm there too! Simple, elegant.

Lorenzo CelsiLorenzoCelsi Thursday, April 14, 2011 7:20:57 AM

I barely noticed the changes in Speed Dial.
I am used to overcome this sort of LITTLE CHANGES.
Adapt and overcome.

It takes much more to move from a full featured browser to Chrome, that is "the browser for the dumb", where "dumb" means "somebody who connected to the Internet for the fist time when Chrome already existed".

BTW, I have just updated the router firmware. NOT following instructions.
It seems to work. Maybe.
Do you know what is annoying?
To buy a brand new router that comes with a totally unusable firmware. smile

Andy WilsonDudley Thursday, April 14, 2011 2:26:58 PM

I actually like the new Speed Dial format.

Words Sunday, April 17, 2011 12:01:59 AM

Originally posted by Dudley:

I actually like the new Speed Dial format.


Shame on you Andy wink I've spent a day getting mine back to something usable.

Andy WilsonDudley Sunday, April 17, 2011 12:51:39 AM

@ Words... eek

Mad Scientist (عادل)qlue Sunday, April 17, 2011 4:12:05 PM

The new speed dial doesn't scale very well. awww.
And I keep clicking the wrong things, not to mention how much time I waste just searching for a speed dial. Did I mention that some of my speed dial tiles vanished? irked.

Ben Treinbentrein Monday, April 18, 2011 5:27:33 AM

Maybe it is that I bought a new - much faster - computer roughly at the same time as the new opera came out, so I don't notice most of your complaints... The 'No transparency' is indeed sad - very sad.

On a sidenote: Do hashtags work too when blogging? smile

Shaunak DeShaunak Sunday, April 24, 2011 8:04:52 AM

Originally posted by bentrein:

On a sidenote: Do hashtags work too when blogging?



They should bigsmile

Harry...the man!harrytheman Sunday, April 24, 2011 11:27:59 AM

Originally posted by qlue:

Did I mention that some of my speed dial tiles vanished? irked.


Now that my browser's updated, a couple of mine vanished too.

Ben Treinbentrein Sunday, April 24, 2011 1:45:51 PM

Oh, btw... I use Linux. On Linux nothing changed. bigsmile Only on Windoze something changed, and I agree, it's not for the better.

What is also interesting, is that they closed the thread you linked to. smile

Mad Scientist (عادل)qlue Sunday, April 24, 2011 1:55:51 PM

Au contraire, a lot changed on Linux. left.
Perhaps you didn't notice the changes because you are using less speed dials than we are? confused.

Ben Treinbentrein Monday, April 25, 2011 4:42:44 AM

Hm... I'm at work now, where I was forced to use Windoze. Let me get back to you on that... smile

Edit: Darn, it turns out I'm Lysdexic: I can't distinguish 1.01 from 1.10... bigsmile

I second it - I don't like the new speed dial either!

Shaunak DeShaunak Tuesday, April 26, 2011 3:12:30 PM

I use FF on Linux p (Comes with it, runs fine, why bother. bigsmile )

Ben Treinbentrein Wednesday, April 27, 2011 5:39:53 AM

Because I have a netbook on which I can't get wifi to work on Linux. So I run windoze there. And I like my web experience to be at least similar... I guess I'll make the switch soon. p

Mad Scientist (عادل)qlue Wednesday, April 27, 2011 6:03:36 AM

I've never had a use for wifi since I don't have a wifi hub. p.

Abhinavdecodedthought Sunday, May 22, 2011 5:54:57 PM

I thought the new speed dial was a great improvement bigsmile

Ben Treinbentrein Tuesday, May 24, 2011 6:01:46 AM

I disagree. It doesn't fit on my net-book's display anymore! And Opera Link is failing big time too: http://my.opera.com/bentrein/blog/2011/05/18/random-thoughts-16

Write a comment

New comments have been disabled for this post.

My Opera Blogroll

Shaunak on Web

Shaunak's Universe

  • Make a smashing Valentine’s day card in MATLAB

    MATLAB helps solve millions of computational problems in nearly all fields of human scientific knowledge every day. There is absolutely no reason it can’t help with the trivial matter of your valentine’s card. The mathematical function we are after is aptly ...

  • Sweet BambooTunes

    The elegance of a simple bamboo flute. © Shaunak De

  • A Case for the Raspberry Pi

    The Raspberry Pi is a $ 25 credit-card sized computer that has taken the geek world by storm. It’s a joy for tinkerers because it allows the introduction of some serious computing power into junkyard projects. It means that we can now do water droplet photo ...

  • Let There Be Light

    As the sun sets on Juhu Beach, a coconut vendor prepares to set up his stall. He sparks a humble kerosene lamp to life, its sputtering rays light up his features, and life with hope and support. ...

  • Photographing Lights

    Its Diwali, and its the festival of lights. But capturing lights, especially near point sources and making them look interesting can be a bit of a challenge. One nifty trick to make point sources like decorative lights and tiny lamps more interesting is to make them appear like point sources. Fo ...