Re:Criticizing Computers
by aussiesnack on Sunday November 20, 2022 @11:44PM
(#33688863)
GUIs aren't inherently incompatible with composable data. Sharing in iOS and Android is an extremely rudimentary version of such. Then there was OLE in Windows (mentioned in another comment here) and Apple's OpenDoc (controversially canned by Steve Jobs).
It's a harder task to specify than just piping text, and the period of corporate/consumer computer history GUIs have come to maturity in has made it less likely to happen. Which is a shame. With a modicum of luck and the right standards and incentives, marvellously useful tools for active humans could have come about. It seems unlikely to happen now. Most computers are essentially training clickers for passive consumers.
It's a harder task to specify than just piping text, and the period of corporate/consumer computer history GUIs have come to maturity in has made it less likely to happen. Which is a shame. With a modicum of luck and the right standards and incentives, marvellously useful tools for active humans could have come about. It seems unlikely to happen now. Most computers are essentially training clickers for passive consumers.