for the rest of us
[from the Mac slogan "The computer for the
rest of us"] adj. 1. Used to describe a spiffy product whose
affordability shames other comparable products, or (more often)
used sarcastically to describe spiffy but very overpriced
products. 2. Describes a program with a limited interface,
deliberately limited capabilities, non-orthogonality, inability to
compose primitives, or any other limitation designed to not
`confuse' a naive user. This places an upper bound on how far
that user can go before the program begins to get in the way of the
task instead of helping accomplish it. Used in reference to
Macintosh software which doesn't provide obvious capabilities
because it is thought that the poor lusers might not be able to
handle them. Becomes `the rest of them' when used in
third-party reference; thus, "Yes, it is an attractive program,
but it's designed for The Rest Of Them" means a program that
superficially looks neat but has no depth beyond the surface flash.
See also WIMP environment, Macintrash,
point-and-drool interface, user-friendly.
