Southwest Airlines' pencil hits the Web July 2, 1999 While conducting an informal survey of the favorite sites of Fortune 500 CEOs, USA Today received two honest answers from Bill Marriott of Marriott International and Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines who both choose not to use the Internet. It's not that surprising to hear of a Fortune 500 CEO who prefers pencil and paper over anything electronic, even Jim Barksdale was reported by Chris Nolan at the San Jose Mercury to prefer dictation over e-mail. Herb Kelleher's Response to USA Today "I still use a No. 2 pencil and a legal pad," writes Kelleher (in pencil) in response to a request for his favorite sites. "I call 800 numbers to order things from catalogs. That took me 10 years to learn. I can now use the ATM machine. That only took me two years to figure out."

Jeffrey Veen on the Airline Service Counter Metaphor Jeffrey Veen in his book HotWired Style observed in a reality check of Southwest Airlines' site how not to use a metaphor as an interface. "Assuming that Web users would be more comfortable with a metaphorical navigational scheme, the site designers created this airline service counter. To be honest, wouldn't reminding your visitors of standing in line at the airport be the last way you'd want to greet them?" But Jeffrey's book was written in 1997 and the ticket counter interface is only a sympton of the entire site! Two years and a few hundred pencils later, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that Herb Kelleher isn't the only one not surfing the Web at Southwest Airlines. We don't accept e-mail And Southwest Airlines' website is one case where Jim Barksdale's aversion to writing e-mail may come in handy. Why? Because Southwest Airlines doesn't accept e-mail on their website and instructs customers to send them a letter via. snail mail. Reprise: Southwest Airlines' Service Desk Closes, August 19, 1999. Southwest Airlines finally retires their defunct service desktop metaphor interface on their front page.

Related links [1] Are CEOs paying heed to the Web?; USA Today [2] Jakob Nielsen on Dinosaurs; CIO WebBusiness [3] NetStudio Mud Bricks Award; John C. Dvorak, Dan Shafer, Amy D. Wohl and other judges.