Hi,
iansjack wrote:Well, there's a guy that died this week who I guess was pretty proud of the status of his invention (albeit hardware rather than software). That something was invented a long time ago doesn't have to mean that it is irrelevant today. The idea of files fits into the same category as the mouse for me.
As does the wheel.
As for the mouse, I really believe that it isn't going to be as relevant as it is today. Firstly, there is the advent of touch-screens, which certainly would change stuff; of course, some still despise using a touch-screen as a method of UI for desktops (see: hatred towards Windows8).
As an alternative, there is technology like
Leap and
Kinect (for PC). Note that with leap, unlike with touchscreens, you don't have to keep your hand hanging in air -- you could configure leap to treat, for example, your table desk as the "input" area, so that you can use your hand just as you used your mouse. Note that it will have many benefits, like being able to make gestures -- you could flick your index finger and thumb to delete some file, or use your thumb and first two fingers to rotate some image, and so forth.
Leap doesn't completely plan to replace the mouse, neither does it boast of being particularly for that area. It doesn't completely revolutionize input, either; as of now, you'll still be faced with old paradigms like
the pointer in WIMP. I just believe like technology like that would slowly, yet steadily, make older technology adapt with the newer times.
Of course, this all wasn't particularly about the idea of single files v/s multiple files -- I don't think I can talk much about the benefits and usability of the former, unless I see a demo/prototype made by either Antti or Brendan. It was simply saying that once in a while, refreshments to older paradigms doesn't hurt. That doesn't mean that something must be first "broken" before you attempt to fix it; IMHO, you can't figure out if something was broken until you see a better model. For example, before the wheel came about, people must be using horses or something (my history is a bit poor..) for transport. Using horses for transport looks in no way broken to me, unless someone came along and showed them that you could put two wheels on a wooden plank, attach it to two horses, and then enjoy bigger space. Similarly, in the future, someone might replace wheels by some type of magnetic field to allow hovering cars -- they'll say that the old wheel was broken, because it might've gotten damaged soon, leading to accidents and such. In a more distant future, someone might replace that by teleportation -- "obviously, you don't want to have minor influences in your cars magnetic field from others, and get in an accident due to that." In an even more distant future, someone might go all Zen and say that we don't need transportation at all! Similarly, before electricity came about, whatever alternatives existed for current electronic devices (e.g.
earthen pot instead of refrigerators) weren't "broke" either -- the alternatives we developed were simply better. I think a better version of the saying could go by "if it ain't broke, you ain't trying hard enough to fix it."
Regards,
Shikhin
