> Most of these firms and individuals (software developers) possess some
> knowledge of the media they are promoting. Very few seem to understand
> formal or informal learning methods. As a result, the types of computer
> exhibits that end up in front of vistors are equivalent to automatic
> teller machines, or are chocked full of snazzy navigation icons that go
> nowhere, or recapitulate the obvious.
>
> The problem becomes compounded by museum people who buy this stuff and put it
> on exhibit without accurately considering the net effect of the new exhibit
> on the learning experience of visitors to the museum.
>
> But museum visitors are not hyper-linked objects. You have to actually
> go down and talk to them... -- Kevin Coffee
 
Very well put.  Information seems to be a topic that few are willing to
understand in terms of those who will use it, at least in the computer
world.  Even our Vice President Gore, seems to be promoting an
information superhighway that will do little more than let us shop at
home, or bank via video.  Certainly, we have a useful tool that is not
from a standpoint of possibilities and relationships.
 
We seem to be caught in the model of "study" which can be self limiting.
If you want to know how to grow peas, ask a pea farmer.  The public comes
in all interest levels, but starting with them can help build a better
informational tool.  The relationship between what is being exhibited and
the computer-based informational tool, is the heart.  That is obvious.
Most times, this means we have to ask for what we want.  Museums are the
public also, the software companies should be asking us questions; and we
should be asking questions of our users.