The future of Pen based Tablet computing...

[RAV TUX]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-409028730194183047&hl=en

[prizrak]

About a year old at the least. This is like a 20th thread on this board about it.

[blah blah blah]

People are going to hate that.

[Ebuntor]

Hmmm, it sure is great eye candy and it might be a nice to play with for a while but I doubt this will become very popular. There's a good reason why we use stationary icons on the desktop and directories. Having "piles" instead of dirs is hardly a good replacement imo. I want to immediately see all the names, sizes, types etc of all my files, just a bunch of icons wouldn't work.

[Warpnow]

Its plain stupid. We're trying to lower the efficiency of computers to human level.

I can find my files in less than 10 seconds. That could leave me searching for hours, considering that I have tens of thousands of files.

[Nekiruhs]

It could have applications for those who have never used computers before. What would make more sense to them, metaphors for folders or a pile of papers?

[Warpnow]

It will lead computers down a bad road...

We need to ensure a future where all people know how to use computers, not one where its unnecessary and therefore efficiency and power are forgotten.

[blah blah blah]

It will lead computers down a bad road...

We need to ensure a future where all people know how to use computers, not one where its unnecessary and therefore efficiency and power are forgotten.

I hate it when people apply old principles to today.

[Tundro Walker]

The negative...

I agree with the complaints. This mental model of a "desktop" is used to make the concept of file organization on a computer easier to pick up / understand. But this tries to take it too far, by removing the usability of the computer (easy organization, point-click-done interface, etc), and instead forcing you to work with your documents as if they were cumbersome paper on your desk. You know what, if I wanted to do that, I'd USE MY DESK!

Now, the positive...

I like the idea of flipping through the previewed documents to see what you're working with. Or enlarging icons to emphasize. And, guess what, I already do that with GNOME. I enlarge pics, folders, etc that I work with on my desktop. I toss them into piles (with icon grid turned off). If I don't want to see them, I make a quick "stash" folder to toss things aside in.

I also like the radial menu's. Right-click menu's are such a pain, because you have to mouse into it and find just the right option, etc. But a radial menu shows everything around the mouse, and you just point to the right slice. I've used radial menu's in games (and firefox, too, if I recall right), and loved them. I wish more programs and OS's would implement them.

[Warpnow]

If this worked as a submenu of the current folder system, it would be okay. Replacing it would be terrible.

[deadguy87]

I don't see it catching on beyond one of those toys people use for a short while before realizing it's pretty useless and decide to remove it, but I would like to play with that for a while