I don't think we actually know what the typical user wants. Or is one of us aware of some really good user research on this subject?
One of our common failings as programmers is making incorrect assumptions about what the user wants. rasz_pl is assuming that the user is like him, and values precision. Gigablah is assuming that the user is not like rasz_pl, and does not value precision. Both of those are simply assumptions.
I hear this all the time. "But of course the user will want to be able to choose exactly which columns of data are in the table!". "But of course the user would rather see one nice simple summary number than the actual details!". Both of those are scary.
One of our common failings as programmers is making incorrect assumptions about what the user wants. rasz_pl is assuming that the user is like him, and values precision. Gigablah is assuming that the user is not like rasz_pl, and does not value precision. Both of those are simply assumptions.
I hear this all the time. "But of course the user will want to be able to choose exactly which columns of data are in the table!". "But of course the user would rather see one nice simple summary number than the actual details!". Both of those are scary.