Leonardo's Laptop: Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies

Ben Shneiderman has written a wonderful book about computers and what human beings should expect to be able to use them for. He talks about "user centered" computer and how everyone should be able to use computers to do a better job. By everyone he means everyone, no matter who you are, disabled or not. He goes into great detail about how the computer should be used and how it should be built to suit the user, not the user changing to suit the way the computer is built.This is the way it should and must be. People should not serve computers, computers should serve the needs of the human population no matter who 0r where they are. He includes a great list of references and his examples of how the new computing should work are outstanding.He makes his case well with detailed examples and commentaries on the subject. This books is a must buy for all of us!

Ben Schneiderman's book, Leonardo's Laptop, was a required text in a Cyberspace, Culture and Society course I taught this summer. The course was a combined upper level undergraduate and graduate seminar class that included students from a wide range of academic disciplines: English, sociology, psychology, anthropology, computer science, information systems, philosophy, interdisciplinary studies, Language, Literacy and Culture, and Policy Science. The students overwhelmingly indicated that the book was excellent: readable, inspiring, and thought provoking. Leonardo's Laptop urges users to promote better design by getting "angry about the poor quality of user interfaces and the underlying infrastructure" and to think big about the ways computers could "support creativity, consensus-seeking and conflict resolution." Shneiderman urges designers to build technology guided by the principle of universal usability to insures that all types of people, young, old, novices, experts, disabled, will be able to use technology to enhance their lives.Chapters dealing with e-leaning, e-commerce, e-health, and e-government suggest creative ways that technology can support humans as they seek to deal with pressing social issues. This book creatively explores a topic that, all too often, is dealt with in jargon and technical terminology that is not accessible to a wide audience and narrowly frames the discussion of technology and its effects. The book promoted interesting discussion between technical and non-technical students about the effects of technology on societies around the world. The students especially liked the "collect, relate, create, donate framework" that Schneiderman so skillfully uses to illustrate how technology can empower and liberate users. This book is interesting reading for anyone who is interested in technology, people, and the future.

Ben Shneiderman presents a refreshing view of 'the new computing' as an aid to enabling people to develop attributes similar to those he admires in Leonardo da Vinci. The Renaissance genius in painting & sculpture (and the related science of anatomy), engineering, and scientific thinking, is used as an inspiration for promoting more usable computers, universal design, and more useful technology. The book is easy and refreshing reading. The first 5 chapters are of general interest, providing some historical background and setting the mood. The next five, which can each be read independently, relate to learning, business, health, government, and creativity, respectively. They can be read for education/enjoyment, or used as guidebooks for activists to push for the proper use of computers to help us achieve our goals. In fact, they encourage us all to become activists to help us exploit computers for our good. There is a good list of references for those interested to pursue these ideas in more detail, and counter arguments from other sources help to present the ideas in a fair and considered manner. I can recommend this as fine reading for anyone, from the inquisitive computer user, to the academic "expert", and particularly for the potential activist.

It is a sad fact that with the exception of deep academic and professional texts aimed at corporate programmers and computer science researchers, most books on computing have frighteningly short useful lifetimes. All too many of them are little more than glorified how-to guides in the use of specific versions of rapidly evolving commercial packages and ever changing industry standards. A few attempt to cover application areas in more generality, but very few indeed strike at the core of the really big picture while offering substantial value to both computing experts and End Users alike. Ben Shneiderman's tour-de-force, Leonardo's Laptop, is just such a rare gem. It accomplishes the hat trick of meeting the needs of readers in academia, industry, and the general public by going beyond talk of the "in technologies" of the moment to conceptualizing a New Computing organized around the principle of putting human needs first. It reminds us that while we may have become accustomed to buggy and brittle software, such bad designs - which cost both lives and dollars - impoverish the human spirit and need not be tolerated. By drawing on our scientific and artistic sides we can restore the balance to make technology use an ennobling experience. Although the text is addressed to everyday computer users and decision makers whose purchasing patterns ultimately determine what the IT sector will produce, it offers a rich set of endnotes that will guide technically oriented readers to the resources they need to implement its vision. Moreover, researchers and business people will find Leonardo's Laptop to be an invaluable source of ideas for grant writing and business plan development. This book is a must have that will lead to new insights with each reading. If you are a High School Teacher or University Faculty Member whose students are looking at the role of computers in society or who aspire to creating the next generation of high tech, you owe it to them to evaluate Leonardo's Laptop for use as a required or recommended reading in your courses!

Ben Shneiderman's "Leonardo's Laptop" should be as inspirational to readers in the 21st century as Leonardo daVinci was in the l5th and l6th. Renaissance man possessed "virtu"-the spirit of the times reflected by freedom to choose, invent and create. Shneiderman exemplifies this same attribute today, probably termed "existential". One does not remain static but, freely innovative with all tools available. While Leonardo pioneered the arts and sciences which eventually enlightened society, Shneiderman suggests what the user can do with the computer as an application of modern day social science .This book offers a model, the same process of Leonardo's thought - COLLECT, RELATE, CREATE, DONATE. (CRCD) Clearly, this process has unlimited applications and Shneiderman highlights education, commerce, medicine and of course government, itself, sa varied spectrum of political ramifications. Most computer users master the technical side. Shneiderman reminds us that if we just stop for a moment, in the imaginative Renaissance spirit of "virtue" or his modern model CRCD, this technical tool can benefit various aspects of social living. Leonardo did not have this opportunity yet,because he well understood the human condition, we still positively enjoy his legacy. Shneiderman's model serves this same inspiration in today's world. Since the computer is here to stay, let's use it well!