title: The Invisible Computer: Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer Is So Complex, and Information Appliances Are the Solution
author:  Donald A. Norman 
description: Currently, computer users must navigate a sea of guidebooks, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and wizards to perform a task such as searching the Web or creating a spreadsheet. While Donald Norman acknowledges that the personal computer allows for "flexibility and power," he also makes its limitations perfectly clear. "The personal computer is perhaps the most frustrating technology ever," he writes. "It should be quiet, invisible, unobtrusive." His vision is that of the "information appliance," digital tools created to answer our specific needs, yet interconnected to allow communication between devices.
zlib_text: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ![](0672326140_xs.jpg)  
  ---  
  |  
  • | [Table of Contents](toc.html)  
  • | [Index](index.html)  
   **Inmates Are Running the Asylum, The: Why High-Tech Products Drive Us Crazy
  and How to Restore the Sanity**  
  ---  
  By
  
  
  
  
  
  Alan Cooper  
  |  
  Publisher| : Sams Publishing  
  Pub Date| : February 24, 2004  
  ISBN| : 0-672-32614-0  
  Pages| : 288  
  Slots| : 1.0|
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Imagine, at a terrifyingly aggressive rate, everything you regularly use is
  being equipped with computer technology. Think about your phone, cameras, cars
  - everything - being automated and programmed by people who in their rush to
  accept the many benefits of the silicon chip, have abdicated their
  responsibility to make these products easy to use.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Inmates are Running the Asylum argues that, despite appearances, business
  executives are simply not the ones in control of the high-tech industry. They
  have inadvertently put programmers and engineers in charge, leading to
  products