Yup... just another lazy whiner

[rae2]

Hello folks...

 

I've used ImgBurn a few times and I delight in knowing it can burn almost anything to anything.

 

But first, the user must have a huge amount of insight into the dizzying array of convoluted and continuously changing formats and terminolgy, in order to "tell" the software what the intention is, and so on.

 

In a way, it's like Photoshop - a marvellous set of tools that can do magic with photographs, but first the user must invest hundreds of hours immersed in a learning curve to even make use of the tools that would make any PhD candidate break out in a sweat.

 

There's a big difference though. With Photoshop there is a limit to the number and format of acceptable input files and a clear limit on the output. Once the user has scanned the guide on these he/she's off to the races. At least the photo will appear on screen and get written to disk.

 

But in the world of audio/video file formats, chaos reigns supreme. As far as I'm concerned it is UNREASONABLE to expect an ordinary user to invest hours trying to decipher what in blazes he/she's dealing with and figure out what steps are required to get "it" from whatever "it" is to, say, an ordinary DVD disc that actually works in his/her player and/or PC.

 

The guides are really helpful if you can keep your eyes from glazing over before the migraine sets in. If the programmer can write the guide with the steps another human must follow, why can't the programmer write software to do that work? IMHO, the SOFTWARE should be able to "look" at the files a user has, then "ask" what the user wants to do with it/them, and THEN DO IT with no further input/learning/direction from the user.

 

The whole point of even having software, IMHO, is for it to DO THE WORK - not only the intricate, technical detail behind the scenes jiggytopoo, but all the up front stuff too.

 

When I want to read my email, I click a button and a few seconds later, from the other side of the earth, my mail appears on my screen. I'm sure there are countless "conversions" and complexities involved for this magic to happen... but I DON'T CARE ABOUT ALL THAT. If I had to jump through all the hoops, such as ImgBurn (and to be fair, all the other burning programs) require, I would still be taking pen to paper and looking for a stamp. I resent being required to invest a lot of time to learn how to make perhaps ONE conversion/burn a month or a year. And next year I must do it all over again when I encounter another "burning question" because, of course, not only will I have forgotten how, but everything will be different anyway. It's ridiculously complex.

 

Nope... the software just ain't smart enough... yet. And Yup... I'm just another lazy whiner. But honestly, the job of software is to deal with the unbelievable complexities involved so the user doesn't have to. Come up with software that will do that, ImgBurn, and I WILL GLADLY PAY FOR YOUR PROGRAM.

[Cynthia]

The author has stated several times that ImgBurn is for experienced users. Even if there are a lot of "checks" to avoid the most basic user input errors.