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Hi IxDAers,
I just posted a blog post on my 'obsession theme': the need of a metaphor/paradigm change on current Operating Systems.
The blog post is over here
http://nlapse.com/blog/the-need-for-a-new-metaphor/ and I'll like to discuss about this idea.
So my opinion is that the current "application centered" OSs are not suiting anymore the needs for connectivity, real-time and socialization we have now days. A change is needed.
What you think? Happy with your current OS?
Hi jose,
True that,
Its been 30 years since the desktop came into existence and it has become the standard user interface. While, the web has evolved in leaps and bounds, leaving enough room for innovation and grabbing most of our attention. While everyone else is focusing on web we are trying to innovate the OS domain. We started designing and developing a new Os called "itsme" in 2008. itsme is based on the metaphor of "stories and venues". This basically means that everything users do is in the context of different stories they live with other people and sometimes alone. itsme is an opensource Os embodying the venue metaphor in its front end. Venue is the place where every item related to a story can be located within organized channels indicating relations across channels. All in all it helps its users to manage the complexity of their social environment.
I can go on and on about it, so its better if instead i direct you to this link http://itsme.it/project/
I think there is a lot of room for discussion with regards to this metaphor and lately we were discussing the potential of vertical segments.
any comments ?
Nikhil
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=42903
i just read you post on the blog.
Can "stories and venues" be the next metaphor ?
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=42903
I think you're more likely to find new metaphors on mobile devices (such as iPhone) than on the desktop computer. There, I have a feeling that we've reached our QWERTY point: as with that keyboard layout, the current approach is ubiquitous, fairly well understood, and works adequately, so deviations from it are unlikely to become mainstream. I think we're looking at many years of incremental refinement — graphical enhancement, visual effects, etc. — and nothing in the way of fundamental change. On other kinds of devices, the field is wide-open.
I also feel like you didn't made the case for needing a new metaphor. New applications and functionality are emerging constantly. In what way does the desktop limit anybody other than creative OS designers?
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=42903
Hi Nikhil,
The istme project is really interesting, but I think the "stories and venues" metaphor is a little short for the complexity of today. I guess the power of the next metaphor have to be in the "task" and "relations" between people and documents. For instance you have to be able to work the same way with all documents related to a project, or access quickly all documents related to a person. That's failing today.
@Jeff Garbers
You are right saying we reached our QWERTY point. But the current metaphor is limited, for instance: when you want to access all documents related with a project, including: emails, texts, photos, databases, etc; all that "reside" in a different application and you have to jump from a work flow to another to get things done. And mostly these work flows are not even similar at all. The truth is we are so used to it that we don't notice that, but step back a minute and you will realize how bad the current metaphor is.
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Jose - you're right that it's awkward to have stuff for a given project scattered across multiple apps. I think there's a fairly simple fix to that: a smart system-wide model for tagging objects (files, emails, database records, etc.) I've noticed, for example, that I often have email folders that correspond closely to filesystem folders — why have to define those twice and keep 'em in sync? There are early efforts along these lines in OS X (the OpenMeta project, but it's not widely supported).
An app-centric approach is not necessarily bad, since the tasks that one does with a given kind of information vary greatly. If you're editing a video, you want a video-editing UI, and if you're creating an email, you want an email-centric UI. We've had several stumbles along the path to a document-centric approach — embedded OLE editing was massively confusing, for example, and OpenDoc never got off the ground. And these days, I think many of us would agree that a significant part of our computing day is NOT spent creating documents in the traditional sense of the word.
If your goal is to gather and organize documents and other objects in a meaningful way, trying to replace the desktop metaphor is overkill.
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=42903
I'd say it is time for the metaphor to die. That is, the global metaphor.
People accept their computer as a platform. The 'desktop' metaphor is vestigial.
There is still great need for functional metaphor. Buttons that look like buttons. But most of the metaphorical aspects of our OSs have vanished already.
What is the metaphor behind OS X's spaces?
What i'd like to see, more than a metaphor shift, is the removal of outdated paradigms from personal computing. A device like a larger-screened iPhone, with the ability to multitask and sit in a bay station to allow for mouse/keyboard input as well, would be far better suited to the average user.
Web access, music access, video access, email, IM, notes, and the wide range of apps you see on an iPhone are really the wave of the future. No more files system. No more 'metaphor' for the OS. The OS is just there and the little tools are the focus.
That's my thought anyway.
Posted from the new ixda.org
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William you resumed almost all in your post. I agree with you. The file system have to be revamp (at least in the GUI) to address the documents from users in a easy way.
The average Joe don't care about filenames and extensions etc. that stuff have to be completely transparent.
The iPhone does a nice job doing it but still is not optimum, the notes for example are "enclosed" on the Notes app, so you can't access notes from other app (except the search on 3.0)
Still a new metaphor/paradigm have to rise to address this issues. Hopefully that will be soon.
Posted from the new ixda.org
http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=42903
