Information Week, in a please-link-to-us article entitled has this gem:
The usual word for Apple interfaces is “intuitive.” They’re not. There’s no intuitive reason why the plus sign beside the Safari address bar means ‘add a bookmark’ rather than ‘open the history list’ — in fact, it makes rather more sense for it to open the history list, because that’s something you do more often than adding a bookmark. (The history list is the first item on the bookmarks page, if you’re curious.) The iPhone browser interface is a success not because it’s intuitive, but because the interface is discoverable at a level almost below conscious thought.
So… iPhone isn’t intuitive, but it’s interface operates at a level almost below conscious thought.
That sounds really close to what intuitive means.
intuitive |inˈt(y)oōitiv| adjective using or based on what one feels to be true even without conscious reasoning
So says my dictionary.
And what about this line:
There’s no intuitive reason why the plus sign beside the Safari address bar means ‘add a bookmark’ rather than ‘open the history list’
Um… Yeah. See, the + sign means “Add” which is kind of the best symbol to use for “Add A Bookmark” which is, what clicking the + sign does.
Having a + sign for “Open The History List” would be… what’s the word, what’s the word… oh yeah, “completely unintuitive”
…in fact, it makes rather more sense for it to open the history list, because that’s something you do more often than adding a bookmark.
In fact, it doesn’t make any sense for a + sign to open the history list. You might argue that you want quicker access to the History because you use it more often than bookmarking, but your generality strikes me as patently false. I hardly ever use the History (I do use the Back arrow). However, I bookmark all the time, especially stuff I want to read later or print.