Walt Mossberg Quotes

Any time you see signs or labels added to a device, it is an indication of bad design: a simple lock should not require instructions.

Taken as a whole, consumer technologies have made startling advances, but they still are not as easy to use as they should be.

Macs are not intuitive. It's intuitive to the person who created it. It's not intuitive to me.

The less concerned with aesthetics and usability these friends and family members are, the more easily they navigate sites and applications I can't make head nor hair of. Like the ex-girlfriend who mastered Ebay.

We will make our products work out of the box.

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.

It would be great if companies could just magically know what I'm looking for on their website or what I'm coming to the website for.

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.

Things that are ultimately complex must have a simple end user experience if they are to be successful.

Any product that needs a manual to work is broken.

Browseability is the key online.

I feel that it's lovely when, as a user, you're not aware of the complexity.

What's great about the iPad and iPhone is that they are easy-on, easy-off.

Personally, I think that users should be able to use all the functions of a console video game machine as soon as they open the box.

I think what is going to happen in the future is more customization, more personalization. We all are different and we ought to be able to customize and have a phone that does exactly what we want it to do - that is so easy to use that we don't even have to think about it. That's what the dream is.

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.

Computers shouldn't be unusable. You don't need to know how to work a telephone switch to make a phone call, or how to use the Hoover Dam to take a shower, or how to work a nuclear-power plant to turn on the lights.

The Macintosh was supposed to be the computer for people that just wanted to use a computer without having to learn how to use one.

We've tried to simplify the site because some people found it too difficult to use and were intimidated by it.

We obviously try to be in tune with what our users want.

I wrote a lot about the need for an information appliance. I think we've pretty much arrived at one: the iPad. A child could figure out how to use it quickly. Compare it to a DOS computer or even an Apple II; it's no longer nearly as much of a hassle or a mystery.

What matters is 'Have you done a better job of making our experiences feel like home on Windows?' That's our real goal, and that's what we're going to stay focused on.

DOS is ugly and interferes with users' experience.

The iPhone is so easy to use and navigate - I'd be lost without it.

Consumers have zero time for products that are not simple, intuitive, and attractive to use. This is especially true with Internet products, where clean and useful design is a prerequisite to keeping anyone on your site for more than 30 seconds.