[openbeos] Re: A very interesting 3D desktop prototype...

> > A friend sent this to me and I found it very interesting:
> > 
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0ODskdEPnQ
> > 
> > Obviously this is not something Haiku would even consider until R2,
> > but I have to admit it seems pretty slick and intuitive.
> I saw the video, and it makes a *great* demo. 
> 
> IMO, though, that's all it can be is a really cool demo, because of 
> how 
> much it duplicates a metaphor. Metaphors (like the desktop) are a way 
> to relate the familiar to someone unfamiliar quickly. They are good 
> so 
> long as they are useful, but at some point, they break down. While it 
> does give the user choice in how to organize files, it still forces 
> the 
> user to do it somehow. Not only that, some of the features that 
> they've 
> implemented (like different ways of stacking items in the pile) are 
> implementations of what would be a Real Life hack. I'm not personally 
> a 
> person to organize by piles, but, unless I miss my guess, it would be 
> for keeping certain items of a group within that group while also 
> making it stand out by another means. There are better ways of doing 
> this.

Yes, like folders :)

I often find myself trying to organize stuff in real life in separate 
folders and boxes... But I still have piles everywhere, it's the 
natural "least resistance path" of (un)organization. That doesn't mean 
we should allow such inefficiency to exist in a virtual world :)

François.

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