Re: spelling question: user-interface or user interface ??

[Howard <howardg -at- SAVVY -dot- COM>]

 Matt Ion states:
>>Besides, "user interface" can be used in a wide variety of places, not just
>>software/hardware manuals.  The "user interface" of a car, for example,
>>consists of the steering wheel; gas, brake, and sometimes clutch
>>pedals; the gear shift; and the instrument panel. :-)

In your example, the term User Interface makes the subject even more
obscure. A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, so words that
draw no clear picture for audience are meaningless. True, my example was
computer-specific. Using your example, a reader will have better
understanding of the sentence (a) than sentence (b):

(a) The  key components for controlling your vehicle are the steering
wheel;  gas, brake, and sometimes clutch pedals; the gear shift; and the
instrument panel.
(b) The  key components for controlling your vehicle are the user interface.

*Show* the reader what we want to say, just like in those bad old classes
in college.  Let our readers feel comfortable reading the text -- dont give
them a feeling of insecurity or inferiority by using jargon that the reader has
no reference by which to identify the meaning of the words.

In the words of EB White, <<Be obscure clearly>>.

-HG

Technical Writer
Computer columnist for _Ohio Valley Computing_
Co-Author of the IDG book _Internet Gizmos for Windows_
Id say it was hogwash if I knew exactly what hogwash was.
                                       -- AM Rosenthal