Computer Files Are Going Extinct • Hacker News Board

Re: Computer Files Are Going Extinct

#61

Post by na85 » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 4:24 PM UTC

fit2rule wrote: post #53

maliker wrote: post #26

I don't understand how people can get work done in the post-file world. Any project I've got that's more complicated than a todo list has text files, images, code, links to websites, emails, and typeset documents. The only thing that holds all that stuff, organizes it into folders, lets me edit/run it, and makes the content searchable is a filesystem. Maybe my standards for usability are too high.

At work I am constantly battle the following sources of crufty bollocks: the ftp server, the windows-share fileserver, the 'one the linux guys use' (its ssh..), the jira ticket-attachments, the confluence 'pages', peoples mobile-phones, and so on. If only all of these OS's just had one single, shared, reliable filesystem they could all mount and/or mirror, without .. oh, I get it .. I just install another 3rd-party a…

>If only all of these OS's just had one single, shared, reliable filesystem they could all mount and/or mirror...

FTP provides exactly this experience. Every platform can interface with it and it can be made network-transparent.

Re: Computer Files Are Going Extinct

#62

Post by ACS_Solver » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 4:26 PM UTC

fit2rule wrote: post #50

ACS_Solver wrote: post #12

One of my greatest culture shocks in terms of technology was around 6 years ago when I received an iPad, having no experience with Apple products. After the initial setup, the first thing I wanted was to transfer some files - TV episodes and PDFs - to the device. My first attempt was to SSH into it, only to discover that's not an option, and would require a third-party app store and jailbreak. Then I just connected t…

I use VLC on my iDevices, and I add media to it pretty easily. The fact that you expected this to work out of the box is interesting - I mean, I agree, it should work that way - but the fact that you can still very much manage your entire Media library on an iPad, user filesystem basis, shouldn't be discarded. You just didn't know you could do that with VLC maybe? (Or FileExplorer, or many of hundreds of other apps .…

From what I recall, there was some kind of problem with apps not making use of hardware video decoding. I vaguely remember trying VLC but only getting acceptable performance on Apple's own application without a jailbreak. This is circa 2013 though.

Re: Computer Files Are Going Extinct

#63

Post by williesleg » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 4:35 PM UTC

Good riddance 1950s

Re: Computer Files Are Going Extinct

#64

Post by TeMPOraL » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 4:35 PM UTC

arch-ninja wrote: post #4

There is value in knowing there are 2 demographics: most people use apps and don't care how the app handles it's data; indeed the app usually alters the user's behaviour. Some people run the opposite: they instruct apps and the app had better use the data given in the format given or the user moves to another app (or writes their own). Someday I hope the second demographic's lifestyle is taught in highschools, becaus…

I think the demographics are closer to thinking the data belongs to an app (the first group) vs. believing the data is its own thing (the second group).

I'm strongly in the second group. I don't object to an app using its specific file format if it's really needed. But I want to have the data in files, which I can independently move around without invoking the app, and possibly view and alter in software other than said app.

Re: Computer Files Are Going Extinct

#65

Post by TeMPOraL » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 4:37 PM UTC

anderspitman wrote: post #19

> Years ago websites were made of files; now they are made of dependencies.

Similar to the ongoing trend of turning every product into service, both on-line and off-line. It turns ownership into relationships, which is something I consider strongly negative. Ownership doesn't require as much maintenance and is much more forgiving, and I can own a lot of things, but there's only so many relationships I can be in before my mind is no longer able to keep track of them all.

Re: Computer Files Are Going Extinct

#66

Post by scarface74 » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 4:41 PM UTC

ACS_Solver wrote: post #12

One of my greatest culture shocks in terms of technology was around 6 years ago when I received an iPad, having no experience with Apple products. After the initial setup, the first thing I wanted was to transfer some files - TV episodes and PDFs - to the device. My first attempt was to SSH into it, only to discover that's not an option, and would require a third-party app store and jailbreak. Then I just connected t…

While I agree with the sentiment, it’s a few years out of date.

Starting with iOS 8 - 5 years ago, Apple has had extensibility points where third parties like Dropbox and OneDrive could be used to store documents and used in the common places where you would want to save and upload files across apps.

- of course the Files app was introduced two years ago.

- there have been third party document providers that exposed an ftp server on the device that you could send files from.

- apps like VLC expose a web server from your device you can use to upload files.

- with iOS 13 you can connect a standard USB device or network file share and it appears within the Files app and any app that supports saving/loading files via the standard APIs

- it’s still a sticking point that there is no easy way to add music to your library without going through the iTunes app.

Re: Computer Files Are Going Extinct

#67

Post by scarface74 » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 4:43 PM UTC

dreamcompiler wrote: post #43

ACS_Solver wrote: post #12

One of my greatest culture shocks in terms of technology was around 6 years ago when I received an iPad, having no experience with Apple products. After the initial setup, the first thing I wanted was to transfer some files - TV episodes and PDFs - to the device. My first attempt was to SSH into it, only to discover that's not an option, and would require a third-party app store and jailbreak. Then I just connected t…

The original iPod was a Firewire hard drive; you could connect it to your Mac and use it as a backup volume if you wanted. Apple took all that away a long time ago, and obviously it wasn't for technical reasons. It was so Apple could control and restrict how the customer used their devices. One of the many reasons why I changed from an Apple fan to an Apple hater.

You were able to use an iPod as a storage device throughout its entire lifetime. If Apple wanted to “control and restrict you” it would have been a lot harder to reverse engineer the iPod indexing format and allow third parties to write software that could store and retrieve music from the iPod.

Re: Computer Files Are Going Extinct

#68

Post by scarface74 » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 4:44 PM UTC

barrkel wrote: post #16

ACS_Solver wrote: post #12

One of my greatest culture shocks in terms of technology was around 6 years ago when I received an iPad, having no experience with Apple products. After the initial setup, the first thing I wanted was to transfer some files - TV episodes and PDFs - to the device. My first attempt was to SSH into it, only to discover that's not an option, and would require a third-party app store and jailbreak. Then I just connected t…

I found it immediately limiting - either you put your stuff in one of the preordained categories like music, movies, photos, videos (and pretty much nothing else), or your stuff is siloed in whatever specific application you load it into. That's not a tool you can use to create things with, unless it's music, movies, photos or videos. It lacked the freedom to permit innovation. (I have never acquired an iPad beyond t…

That hasn’t been true for years - at least since iOS 5 in 2011 with iCloud.

Re: Computer Files Are Going Extinct

#69

Post by scarface74 » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 4:48 PM UTC

ACS_Solver wrote: post #62

fit2rule wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use VLC on my iDevices, and I add media to it pretty easily. The fact that you expected this to work out of the box is interesting - I mean, I agree, it should work that way - but the fact that you can still very much manage your entire Media library on an iPad, user filesystem basis, shouldn't be discarded. You just didn't know you could do that with VLC maybe? (Or FileExplorer, or many of hundreds of other apps .…

From what I recall, there was some kind of problem with apps not making use of hardware video decoding. I vaguely remember trying VLC but only getting acceptable performance on Apple's own application without a jailbreak. This is circa 2013 though.

The iPhone 4s and first generation iPad were capable of software transcoding video and playing it.

Re: Computer Files Are Going Extinct

#70

Post by scarface74 » Sun, Oct 13, 2019, 4:50 PM UTC

njovin wrote: post #7

aurora72 wrote: post #5

The author says "everyone started to use Spotify" Everyone? Yeah everyone with their shiny $1000+ iFon toys in their hands doing touch gestures.

Spotify has 215m users. I’d assume that is more than the group that used to download MP3s and burn CDs (which would require some technical knowhow and a CD burner).

iTunes was the most popular music source by 2007 and had built in CD burning capabilities. You created a playlist and hit “burn”. Almost every computer came with a CD burner between around 2000-2010.