Re: [IAEP] Article on "Why files need to die"
On Fri, Jul 15, 2011 at 8:32 AM, Dave Bauer wrote: > > I think search is the answer. There's no reason why a hierarchal > categorization can't be one of the wants to access information, but it > certainly isn't the only way. I used recent documents feature very > often, I usually search for downloads in my browser instead of opening > the folder where they are automatically stored. I send myself email to > my gmail account for anything I want to remember (except passwords) > and rely on the search feature to find it again. I agree with some of the sentiments tha Dave expresses. My expereince is in running enterprise systems for pharmaceutical research. In that industry documents are created by large teams of people all referring to a compound, or group of related compounds which have code names (that often change through-out the process of development). Often the most important element relating two documents is a common bit of chemical structure (e.g. a pyrrolidine ring). This differs from the chronological sequencing on the Journal, but bears some relationship as a criteria other than files/folders as key organizational principals. Hierarchical files systems fall short of having sufficient metadata to enable full retrieval of all relevant documents in that setting. There are software companies pursuing Web 2.0 enabled approaches to enterprise document / content management, in particular, my good friends at ArtusLabs developed a system where you could find documents / spreadhssets, etc. (of nearly any type) by performing a chemical substructure search (e.g. find me all documents that contain a chemical structure with a pyrrolidine ring). Full disclosure - I am a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of ArtusLabs and have benefited financially from that relationship, most recently when Perkin Elmer bought them out. cjl ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
Re: [IAEP] Article on "Why files need to die"
On Fri, Jul 15, 2011 at 9:01 AM, John Watlington wrote: > >> When OS X starts up with a search box open >> instead of a blank desktop we'll know we are there :) > > What a nightmare ! I'm sorry, but once you move past trivial amounts > of information, correctly specifying the search or filtering through > the results of a loosely specified search takes forever. My laptop has > over a half-million files on it, with only a small fraction of my > photos/music/movie collection and no files older than five years old on it. > > I use iMail and Spotlight as much as the next Mac user, but finding the > right mail from (who was that ?) on (what month/year was that ?) about > a common topic can be very frustrating. Whereas the spatial localization > paradigm works wonderfully for me (perhaps as it is how I find things in > the physical world ?) If I want to find something again, I put it in a > certain place in my desktop/hierarchical file system/office/home. > I can understand that. What if you forgot where you put it last year? I either don't remember where/how I filed something, or I specifically didn't think about it, because I knew I could search for it later. I remeber instead, the keywords I can use to bring something back up in a search. Maybe it's functionally equivlant, we should get MRIs to find out :) More relevant, has anyone studied how typical users manage a hierarchal filesystem? Do they put everything straight into My Documents? I don't have a large sample size to compare. There definitely is a spectrum of users. Casual home users who mainly use email and the internet along with downloading photos or videos from their camera. Small office users, corporate users with a WAN, users without persistent internet etc. I am sure someone has, but I haven't ever looked for this type of literature beyond reading a couple of books on web site usability years ago. Dave >> For me, I think these ideas, plus new ones we haven't thought of, >> combined with refined user interfaces developd based on user behaviors >> are the future. The more the computer can predict what you want, the >> more it can help you get your work done. You just have to give it a >> hint. > > Secretaries and personal assistants have done this for years, but I > don't believe that AI is up to the challenge yet. > Of course, this doesn't mean we shouldn't try to improve the current UIs... > > Cheers, > wad > > -- Dave Bauer d...@solutiongrove.com http://www.solutiongrove.com ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
Re: [IAEP] Article on "Why files need to die"
> When OS X starts up with a search box open > instead of a blank desktop we'll know we are there :) What a nightmare !I'm sorry, but once you move past trivial amounts of information, correctly specifying the search or filtering through the results of a loosely specified search takes forever. My laptop has over a half-million files on it, with only a small fraction of my photos/music/movie collection and no files older than five years old on it. I use iMail and Spotlight as much as the next Mac user, but finding the right mail from (who was that ?) on (what month/year was that ?) about a common topic can be very frustrating.Whereas the spatial localization paradigm works wonderfully for me (perhaps as it is how I find things in the physical world ?)If I want to find something again, I put it in a certain place in my desktop/hierarchical file system/office/home. > For me, I think these ideas, plus new ones we haven't thought of, > combined with refined user interfaces developd based on user behaviors > are the future. The more the computer can predict what you want, the > more it can help you get your work done. You just have to give it a > hint. Secretaries and personal assistants have done this for years, but I don't believe that AI is up to the challenge yet. Of course, this doesn't mean we shouldn't try to improve the current UIs... Cheers, wad ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
Re: [IAEP] Article on "Why files need to die"
On Fri, Jul 15, 2011 at 5:03 AM, Christoph Derndorfer wrote: > Hi all, > I just saw this article over on O'Reilly Radar and a lot of what the author > says also applies to the Journal: "Why files need to die: Files are an > anachronism in the digital age. It's time for something better." > (http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/07/why-files-need-to-die.html). > So while it's still early days I definitely feel that the Journal is > generally moving into the right direction, especially with all the new > features and whatnot discussed during the eduJAM! summit:-) > Cheers, > Christoph > -- I am surprised noone mentioned OS X Lion yet. With Resume, opening the application in the last state, automatic document versions, and Autosave, (all ideas that were is Sugar first, of course) a mainstream operating system is going to bring these concepts to many more people. On Fri, Jul 15, 2011 at 6:31 AM, Alexandro Colorado wrote: > > The issue with the stream is that it doesnt really works either. If you see > twitter, is impossilbe to look without search at your tweets from last month > or last years. I think search is the answer. There's no reason why a hierarchal categorization can't be one of the wants to access information, but it certainly isn't the only way. I used recent documents feature very often, I usually search for downloads in my browser instead of opening the folder where they are automatically stored. I send myself email to my gmail account for anything I want to remember (except passwords) and rely on the search feature to find it again. Another area I think is interesting are launcher/search type tools such as Quicksilver (google hired the author, but I haven't seen anything interesting from them based on that yet), Gnome Do, and Alfred for OS X. The main issue with tings like this is learning how to ask for the right thing so it gives you what you want. I am not sure the interfaces make sense if you just walk up to the computer. Then again, many people's browser opens to a search engine with the search box highlighted and they'll type the URL they want to go to in there. So again, guessing what the user meant and giving it to them might be the future. When OS X starts up with a search box open instead of a blank desktop we'll know we are there :) For me, I think these ideas, plus new ones we haven't thought of, combined with refined user interfaces developd based on user behaviors are the future. The more the computer can predict what you want, the more it can help you get your work done. You just have to give it a hint. Dave ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
[IAEP] Article on "Why files need to die"
Hi all, I just saw this article over on O'Reilly Radar and a lot of what the author says also applies to the Journal: "Why files need to die: Files are an anachronism in the digital age. It's time for something better." ( http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/07/why-files-need-to-die.html). So while it's still early days I definitely feel that the Journal is generally moving into the right direction, especially with all the new features and whatnot discussed during the eduJAM! summit:-) Cheers, Christoph -- Christoph Derndorfer co-editor, olpcnews url: www.olpcnews.com e-mail: christ...@olpcnews.com ___ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
