April 15th, 2008

Email tip: Nostalgia is not a question

This is another special case of Don’t forget to ask your question, indeed an even more extreme case of Making some statements and asking for advice isn’t a question.

I remember in version X, we used to be able to accomplish Task Q by clicking on W and then selecting X. Now you have to click on Y and select Z.

Nostalgia is not a question, and it isn’t actionable.

What is your question? Do you want an explanation of why it changed? Are you looking for a way to change it back? Are you just reminiscing? Or maybe you’re congratulating the design team for simplifying the task?

Author

Raymond has been involved in the evolution of Windows for more than 30 years. In 2003, he began a Web site known as The Old New Thing which has grown in popularity far beyond his wildest imagination, a development which still gives him the heebie-jeebies. The Web site spawned a book, coincidentally also titled The Old New Thing (Addison Wesley 2007). He occasionally appears on the Windows Dev Docs Twitter account to tell stories which convey no useful information.

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