I agree it's not a perfect analogy - I don't think end-users of applications go looking for challenging interfaces, for example, in the way that certain readers go looking for experimental fiction or take a chance on something written with a non-classic structure (but maybe some do? Hmm). In fiction, genre expectations set a lot of this up, and it's interesting what is and isn't widely accepted. Science fiction and fantasy readers may well expect unfamiliar vocabulary, but be uncomfortable with present tense. Detective stories often go for unusual settings, some sorts of action thrillers include vast amounts of technical detail... Personally, I expect more explanation if it's completely made-up. Otherwise, there's always Google.
I avoided examples of non-privileged characters for a privileged audience above, but one example which bugs me, if possibly a bit tangential, is the massive lack of animated movies with non-human female leads (my experience is pretty much all English language originals, but Chicken Run and The Last Unicorn are the only two I know of). I've always seen this as being a step too far for the assumed audience - either nonhuman, or female, but not, not possibly both. Arrgh.
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Date: 12 Jun 2011 11:45 am (UTC)I avoided examples of non-privileged characters for a privileged audience above, but one example which bugs me, if possibly a bit tangential, is the massive lack of animated movies with non-human female leads (my experience is pretty much all English language originals, but Chicken Run and The Last Unicorn are the only two I know of). I've always seen this as being a step too far for the assumed audience - either nonhuman, or female, but not, not possibly both. Arrgh.