Understanding simple things...

Where do we draw the line between learning how to use things, on making things simple enough for us to use?

The problem with simple things, and things that do things for you is that we make objects be taken for granted. Like cellphones. You may not believe so, but today, phones replace a sense of direction, maps, and face-to-face communication.

Things we want become things we need.

And then we get to a point where we completely forget how the basic things in society are done. Sometimes its good for every day things to be simple, but if complicated things are made easy, we quickly stop thinking, everything becomes effortless, and we become dummies, useless ones. Norman gives the example of the car steering wheel being a 'natural choice'. Nonetheless, the difference between a natural choice and something we learn when we are very young is indistinguishable.