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Maybe that explains why Alexa is popular? I never really understood it since of it's limited capacity. I guess I don't see the appeal because I'm a programmer and used to high capacity, low user friendly tools like terminal UI/UXs.


Yes, and I think what’s interesting is to consider is that the ability to use a terminal is a very recent (and from a certain perspective, strange) skill, considered from the perspective of the kind of hardware we have for information access, storage and transmission.

What’s far more “normal” is storytelling (with heroes and villains), rhythm & rhyme, and lots of repetition. But even simple conversational interfaces are way more normal (and fit our mental hardware well) than terminal-y interactions.


You're confusing old with normal and your conclusion attempts to "appeal to nature" (a well known error of logic): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature


In context of user interface, "Natural" = "Familiar". So, very low barrier to extract value, less chance of making mistakes.


It's the best kitchen timer in the world, no matter how many dishes you're cooking.




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