Re: Sound effects

[Karl Lattimer <karl qdh org uk>]

On Fri, 2008-12-12 at 10:27 +0000, Iain * wrote:
> On Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 10:15 AM, Karl Lattimer <karl qdh org uk> wrote:
> 
> >  * New email arrived, sure it can be configured but this would be nice
> > on default
> >  * Urgency hints, if an application in the background suddenly wants the
> > users attention it would be alright if a little boing or pong
> > (onomatopoeia you've gotta love it :) to inform you that something you
> > haven't had in the foreground for a while wants your attention, the
> > blinking of course is good but sound would help too.
> >  * System updates available
> >  * Download's complete (firefox, bittorrent etc...)
> >  * Copy/Move complete (nautilus)
> 
> These are all under the class of "something has happened which you did
> not specifically ask to happen and may require your attention"
> And so would be perfect candidates to have the sound.

Some of these things are also "something has happend which you were
expecting to happen but didn't know when it would happen"

> 
> >  * Device inserted or ejected
> 
> Interestingly, this is hovering between two categories
> Stating the obvious and "something has happ....."
> Device inserted, well, I know I've plugged the device in, I remember
> having to take 4 goes to line up the USB connector correctly
> But mounting the device is an automatic thing so it should have the sound.
> Its a weird and interesting edge case.

Device insertion came to my mind because I have a dodgy USB port and
also because some devices don't show up in nautilus. For instance if I
insert my 3G dongle for internet access I have to click on the network
manager icon 3 or 4 times until it's ready to use. This time delay is
annoying but would be much less so if I didn't have to keep clicking to
see if it's ready to use. If I plug it in wait until I hear the sound
and then click the network manager icon to connect I'd feel much
happier.  

> 
> > So killing >ALL< sounds is a bit silly
> 
> No-one was talking about killing ALL sounds.
> I was talking about replacing the myriad of sound effects that we have
> with one sound.
> A sound that is easy to learn its meaning, unlike 125 random sounds.

I totally agree here. Although a single sound is probably not great,
you'd need something that sounds bad (errors), something that sounds
good (something you've been waiting on is done) and something that
sounds inquisitive and would require attention. 

It's important to reduce the number of random noises into noises which
fit with what's happening. Also I don't want to feel like I've had an
electric shock when an error occurs, so the sounds can't be too
obnoxious...

BR,
 K