Re:The Anti-Mac User Interface (1996)
by wolki on Friday December 11, 2020 @08:26PM
(#25394275)
There's been two major attempts to leverage spatiality: spatial file managers (most controversially, 2.6-era GNOME) and zooming interfaces. None have such a checkout by default, but it would fit both quite naturally.
I don't have much experience with the zooming stuff, but I did use Nautilus heavily then (see also Siracusa's Mac-focused discussion here: https://archive.arstechnica.com/paedia/f/finder/finder-1.htm). As soon as you got used to it, it was amazing -- accessing files felt natural in a way it just doesn't in other systems. It was both digital and leveraged our natural understanding that things are at particular places. It's no surprise people still miss it.
A few people, of course. A very large majority of people absolutely hated it, and it's widely considered a huge mistake now. Familiarity and habits win out, users hate changing paradigms and unlearning habits.
I don't have much experience with the zooming stuff, but I did use Nautilus heavily then (see also Siracusa's Mac-focused discussion here: https://archive.arstechnica.com/paedia/f/finder/finder-1.htm). As soon as you got used to it, it was amazing -- accessing files felt natural in a way it just doesn't in other systems. It was both digital and leveraged our natural understanding that things are at particular places. It's no surprise people still miss it.
A few people, of course. A very large majority of people absolutely hated it, and it's widely considered a huge mistake now. Familiarity and habits win out, users hate changing paradigms and unlearning habits.