CAROUSEL
“Teacher,” I said, panting from the steep climb up the hill, “I have seen it used so many times now. I do not know what to think of it.”
“What have you seen?”
“The carousel, Teacher.” And I showed him an instance of it.
“It is pretty,” he said, lost in contemplation of the moving slides. “Why have they used it?”
“I think because they wanted not small but large areas for their beautiful pictures and text, but needed to fit more than one.”
“They are smart designers. When they saw that they did not have enough room in three dimensions, they remembered the fourth.”
“Time.”
“Yes. Sometime, a fifth will be useful. It goes inwardly outward and is invisible. Brany stuff.”
He chuckled for a while.
“You think it is useful?” I asked after he had finished.
“For designers, yes.”
“And for users?”
“Have you gained insight?”
I nodded.
“What are your users doing?” Teacher asked.
“Nothing. They watch it for a moment, then move on.”
“You have very smart users. If an elephant crosses your path, you wait for it to pass, then you move on.”
“And if it stays?”
“They will find a way.”
“Maybe I should teach it some useful tricks?”
“Who?”
“The elephant… The carousel, I mean.”
“You should do that. You will learn much from this.
We should blunt our sharp points, and unravel the complications of things; we should attemper our brightness, and bring ourselves into agreement with the obscurity of others.
THE TAO TEH KING, OR THE TAO AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS – by Lao-Tse, Translated by James Legge
it is said.”
“And our users?”
“They will find a way.”
I looked at him questioningly.
“Who knows where it will lead them.” he said, smiling.