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The desktop metaphor must be restored. It's under attack (2020)

https://medium.com/@probonopd/the-desktop-metaphor-must-be-restored-its-under-attack-6fcd8fa45cc
6•todsacerdoti•5mo ago

Comments

t43562•5mo ago
Seems a bit dull to me. i.e. there's nothing to rethink. Since I usually drop down to the commandline to do most real work, I feel that the desktop is missing something.

In the real world I can cut a brick in half with a grinder or a chisel or whatever works. Applications which work on their own data and live in separate mini-universes, isolated from each other, seem ..... limited.

isege•5mo ago
I think it's a very shallow response to "The desktop metaphor must die" and doesn't address the core questions that it raises.

> The desktop metaphor is still unmatched when it comes to productivity

Well, duh? Of course it dominates productivity when we've spent fifty years building every tool, workflow, and interface around it. It's better than anything else, because there isn't anything else! It's like saying horses were the best transportation in 1800 because all the roads were designed for them.

The article also sets up a false tablet vs. desktop dichotomy and overlooks that tablet OSs inherit the same PARC-era WIMP assumptions.

For a more thorough critique of the desktop paradigm, I'd recommend the Liber Indigo (https://youtu.be/As_SiWqC5tc?si=_rKuZQN22ZkbqGvW) video series on youtube, which does a stellar job highlighting these foundational problems.

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