Xref: utzoo comp.windows.misc:912 comp.sys.next:1130 comp.sys.mac:24655 comp.cog-eng:809
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!ukc!reading!riddle!domo
From: domo@riddle.UUCP (Dominic Dunlop)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.misc,comp.sys.next,comp.sys.mac,comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: replacing the desktop metaphor (How about maps?)
Summary: Good idea, but don't fall into trap of making it culture-specific
Keywords: metaphor, user interfaces, computing environments, maps
Message-ID: <957@riddle.UUCP>
Date: 3 Jan 89 10:00:44 GMT
References: <850@mtfmi.att.com> <673@cogsci.ucsd.EDU> <851@mtfmi.att.com>
Reply-To: domo@riddle.UUCP (Dominic Dunlop)
Organization: Sphinx Ltd., Maidenhead, England
Lines: 23

In article <851@mtfmi.att.com> mel@mtfmi.att.com (M.HAAS) writes:
>Perhaps we could start off with maps...
>
>[interesting argument deleted]
>
>...  Where are the computer
>equivalents of the double white line?  the "Exit 109, Red Bank" sign?
>the "Ramp Speed 25 mph" sign?  the "No U Turn" sign?  the "MacDonalds
>8 miles at Exit 13" sign?

Hmmm.  While the maps idea is good (given enough pixels and layers on the
screen -- look at a worthwhile map and be surprised by the print quality it
requires), mention of US-specific road markings and signs makes alarm bells
ring in my head.  Difficult though it may be, can the next metophor (as
opposed, perhaps, to the NeXT metaphor) be international in its
applicability?  The desk-top metaphor, as implemented in various guises,
does pretty well around the world -- even if the Roladex is not well-known
outside the US.  (Britain has its Filofax.  What does the rest of the
world use?)  Maps, too, have the potential to be non culture-specific --
provided that the implementors keep that goal in mind.
-- 
Dominic Dunlop
domo@sphinx.co.uk  domo@riddle.uucp