Xref: utzoo comp.windows.misc:984 comp.sys.next:1229 comp.sys.mac:25017 comp.cog-eng:867
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!ukc!stc!datlog!torch!paul
From: paul@torch.UUCP (Paul Andrews)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.misc,comp.sys.next,comp.sys.mac,comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re^2: replacing the desktop metaphor (Why any metaphor?)
Keywords: desktop metaphor, graphical interfaces, computing environments
Message-ID: <223@torch.UUCP>
Date: 10 Jan 89 17:40:40 GMT
References: <850@mtfmi.att.com> <673@cogsci.ucsd.EDU>
Organization: TORCH Computers Ltd., Cambridge, England
Lines: 31

norman@cogsci.ucsd.EDU (Donald A Norman-UCSD Cog Sci Dept) writes:


>...Moving the disk image into the trash can to ejectthe disk
>is a violation that bothers many people at first usage, but seems
>perfectly natural after just one or two uses...

Well this STILL bothers me. I feel extremely unsafe doing this and indeed have
witnessed people totally delete a folder because they forgot it wasn't a disk!

Less drastic but still annoying in the Mac desktop metaphor is that moving
a file from one folder to another sometimes copies it and other times moves
it. This one just requires a little thought before doing it but the whole
point about a spatial interface is that it isn't supposed to require any
thought (like driving a car).

While we're on the subject I have always thought that use of the word 'metaphor'
to describe the Mac interface is somewhat pretentious. As several people
have pointed out it actually resembles a desktop very little. It is just a
spatial interface to a computer. Some of us find this type of interface
easier to learn and use than textual interfaces. This is because humans
have evolved to handle largely spatial problems, text (and abstraction) are
relative newcomers to the scene. That said, I have met people who claim to
think of things in a textual fashion rather than a spatial one. To use a
metaphor (!) how do you navigate when driving? Do you remember street and
place names or do you remember a location and how to get there from here?

I would be very interested to know if anyone has gathered any statistics on
this sort of thing.

- Paul.