gorilla arm
:gorilla arm: n. The side-effect that destroyed touch-screens as a
mainstream input technology despite a promising start in the early
1980s. It seems the designers of all those spiffy
touch-menu systems
failed to notice that humans aren't designed to hold their arms in front
of their faces making small motions. After more than a very few
selections, the arm begins to feel sore, cramped, and oversized -- the
operator looks like a gorilla while using the touch screen and feels
like one afterwards. This is now considered a classic cautionary tale to
human-factors designers; "Remember the gorilla arm!" is shorthand for
"How is this going to fly in _real_ use?".
Jargon File Version 4.3.1, 29 JUN 2001 =
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