Keri Ortiz

Practicum 5870

Assignment 1

 

Description Comparison

 

An Apple Computer Displaying Ethereal Education

 

            The item to be described is an Apple monitor, keyboard, and mouse displaying a webpage from Ethereal Education at approximately 7:40 on the evening of Thursday, January 19, 2009.  The monitor is a matte silver gray with a shiny black glass apple cutout centered on the bottom of the frame.  The monitor has smooth rounded corners.  The monitor has a foot supporting it that is made of the same matte silver gray material.  The foot also has a white sticker that names the computer P-120-11 in black lettering.  The computer keyboard is almost flat, an odd design to me a PC user.  My hands are uncomfortable trying to use the unfamiliar keyboard.  The mouse is awkward as well.  It has a short cord that is hooked into the top right hand corner of the keyboard that makes using it difficult because I find myself continuously having to adjust the cord.  The mouse itself is white, almost perfectly smooth except for the etched detail of an apple centered on the top.  The top also has a rubbery gray dot towards what would be the front of the mouse.

            The display is showing a webpage from Ethereal Education–our class  page.  The page is white with red, gray, and black writing.  The red screams “click on me” because it identifies a link that can be clicked on.  The browser bar is a dark charcoal with white writing.  The bottom left corner of the internet window has a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark that claims that there is an error on the page.  On the opposite lower corner is  a small globe and the words “Internet protected mode on.”  The same corner shows that there is a live network connection and that the speakers are on as indicated by a small speaker.  In the upper left-hand corner are the browser forward and back buttons of which only the forward button is lit.  The other is a dark color and appears almost embossed on the page indicating that it cannot be used to go back.  From Ethereal Education there is no looking back.  There are five additional tabs open at the bottom of the page.  They are as follows: Balance for K. Ortiz, Ethereal Education, Click here wind, and 2 tabs that are application error notices.  On the right side of the screen is the scroll bar about 4 inches long and firmly situated at the top of the page.

            The information displayed on Ethereal Education is a page ending with the link for the course calendar for 5870.  The overall design of the page is aesthetically pleasing and information can be easily gleaned from the page.  The color combination of red, white, gray and black makes for a very easy to view page.  Keeping the color scheme simple makes it easier for certain things to stand out like links for example.  Because they are a bright red they jump out as main points of navigation.  The text is written in a very slender stylized font that is easy to read yet stylistically pleasing.  The glare from the overhead lights interferes in my viewing of certain text items from the viewing angle from my seat.  The overhead lights reflected are long rectangular shapes with a metal mesh of some sort that reflects into the dirty, fingerprint-smudged screen. 

 

 

 

Keri’s observation is somewhat different than mine.  Where I only describe what the computer, keyboard and mouse look like, Keri also interprets their function.  I believe she draws these interpretations form past experience using the website and her past computer use experience.  She also goes on to add feeling into the observation.  She finds the mouse and keyboard difficult to use and must adjust the wire constantly.  I am surprised by some of the details Keri observed that I simply ignored.  I did not notice the computer sticker which identifies its number.  I saw the leg of the computer, but chose not to describe it as I still had to describe the keyboard and the mouse.  I felt I was running out of time and would miss the larger elements of the observation.  I found that Keri’s description of these added much detail and believe that I should have described one aspect more thoroughly before moving on to the next.