Talk:Balloon help

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[edit] Failed Apple Initiative?

Does this really deserve to be categorized as part of Failed Apple initiatives? It seems the category is made for things that really failed to take off, while Balloon Help took off and was quite pervasive in pre-OSX Mac OS. Sure, they stopped using it in OS X, in favor of Tool Tips, which were more widely used (ie, on Windows, on the Web, etc). But that doesn't mean it was a failed initiative! It was quite succesful and widely adopted by Mac application makes. It's like saying the Clamshell iBook was a failed initiative because Apple doesn't make them anymore. I don't think it make sense... Myrdred 01:39, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

I think it depends on your definition of "failed" -- I certainly consider it to have failed. It was widely derided, both by the press and the users, as it was slow enough on machines when it was introduced that you couldn't really use it. Furthermore, few applications really made use of it, leaving the user with balloons for things they already understood, and none for the things they were actually trying to figure out. Finally there was no easy way, like the Help key, to easily toggle it on and off. As I said in the article, it was a flawed execution of a very good idea, one that Apple could have, and should have, fixed, but never did. People ended up not using it, developers never really put it in, and even Claris execs made fun of it. That's certainly "failed" in my books. Maury 22:06, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree with Myrdred. It had its flaws, but compare it to the other things in the category. Macintosh TV, Copland, Apple III, QuickDraw 3D/GX, Taligent... it really doesn't belong with these. It's in the final release of Mac OS Classic, and can thus still be seen on PowerPC-based Macintoshes. That's 16 years now and counting. I've also rarely seen a Mac OS Classic application that didn't support balloon help, at least in the menu bar. --Steven Fisher 21:31, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

Well let me answer that with another question: these applications, did they not just support Apple's built-in balloons? If that is the case, then it is quite reasonable to claim that the application did not support it, as the developers in question didn't actually do anything. It's like when you find the "default application icon" on a program...

But my real point here is about the claims vs the reality. Did Balloon Help deliver what Apple claimed it would when they introduced it. The answer is an unqualified "no". Maury 12:32, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

And, as the article points out, Apple did nothing at all to improve Balloon Help after the initial complaints pointing out its obvious and easily remedied flaws. Seems like Apple thought it had failed. ProhibitOnions 12:58, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

When I said they added balloon help to their menu bars I meant exactly what I said. It is not Apple content, but the application's. I only have a few Classic applications left on my hard drive, but most of the non-Apple ones have balloon help (the only one that didn't in my quick sampling was the QuickHelp compiler). It was simply so easy to add that most developers did add it. --Steven Fisher 14:51, 9 May 2006 (UTC)