[okfn-labs] what we are working on...

Thu Feb 13 09:57:26 UTC 2014

On Thu, Feb 13, 2014, at 01:45 AM, stef wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 05:19:03PM +0100, Friedrich Lindenberg wrote:
> > For the combination of technologies that you’re using (Neo/Django), I’d also consider having a look at detective.io, it’s Journalism++ brain child - an open source platform aimed at journalists with no data modelling skills.
> 
> dumbing down tools instead of smartening up the users seems like a step
> backward. but then it creates opportunities for the elite jurnos to
> separate
> from the bottom feeders. ;)
> 
> enablement is not through tools that paternalize, but through
> understanding,
> knowledge.

Nicely trolled ;) 

I'll have to disagree on two levels: first off, I think that tools can
actually empower through simplicity - which is different from making
internals unavailable in a DRM-your-computer-is-working-for-us-now
way... I think journalists should become more courageous in acquiring
tech skills (like SQL SELECT, it's the killer tool of journalism), but
that doesn't make a good reason for shit usability.

In this specific case, what J++ are trying to do is make a WYSIWYG
editor for OWL. I'm not sure they needed OWL in the first place, but if
you're going to use it, please hide it. Otherwise, any user will first
have to understand XML, RDF, OWL itself and subscribe to some fairly
whacky philosophical ideas. It's as close to human rights abuse as you
can get on a flat-file basis. 

Cheers, 

 - Friedrich 