Do we still need Indy ?

[Kevin Forge <forge@myrealbox.com>]

The topic is slightly tongue in cheek but here is the story behind it.

My Lawyer uses Linux.  I set up and configured the 300MHz/64MB machine 
for her.  I also spent a few hours teaching her how to use it.  

What's interesting is that she has a 17 YO daughter.  This child is
the classic "Airhead".  In fact she would have been a dumb blond if 
she wasn't half black.  She also has no interest in computers and has 
had some difficulty gaining the very limited dos and Windows experience 
she has ( over a 6 to 10 month period when she sold paper ).

So her daughter is helping out in the office while her secretary is 
ill for a few weeks.  I create a user account for jalpha and she sits 
down at the generic Mandrake 6.1 desktop with zero supervision and 
figures it out.  She is browsing the web, sending Email and other 
interesting stuff mere days after her 1st exposure to Linux.  You can 
see her at

 http://www.miguelmodels.com/MiguelOct/Jalphax.html

They have a contest up for "model of the millennium" so I am 
encouraging everyone to stuff the ballot boxes. ;~)

 http://www.miguelmodels.com

The moral of this story is that _basic_ ease of use is already 
complete and what's left to do is add more comprehensive application 
support.  Stuff like ICQ and Net2Phone, little programs for manhandling
clipart and checking what you would look like with your dreadlocks tied
deferentially.