Latest Viewpoints by Derrick Fountain

Try designing a single printer-fax-scanner-copier (PFSC) for use in China, Russia and Nigeria. How about designing this PFSC for every imaginable context of use. Even the paper, the most basic requirement of such a machine, is not a product that lends itself to universal design. Although paper comes close to being designed for all possible use cases, even it has specialized formats that are unique to the context in which it is used. When I worked for the FDA in the mid 90’s, I remember getting in trouble for putting fax paper in the printer. "That's fax machine paper not printer paper", I was told. In another account, I remember being told, "No, that's copy machine paper not printer paper." And in yet another account, "No, that paper is for the LaserJet printer, not the inkjet printer." Even paper is polarized for different groups of users. In this case the "users" are composed of various types of machines that share a common paper-type. Nowadays, I hear the interactive community screaming with the de