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Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? [video]

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Re: Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? [video]

#171

Post by lotsofpulp »

ryandrake wrote: post #138
andrekandre wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the 80s and 90s there was much more idealism than now. that idealism was already fading by then, which had started much earlier in the preceding decades (see, memex/hypertext etc) > tech has devolved into a big money making scheme with only the minimum necessary actual technology and innovation in the end, they are businesses, so it could be assumed that such orientation would take over in the end eventually tho…

> make more money or die This is not true for the vast majority of people making these things. At some point, most businesses go from “make money or die” to financial security: “make line go up forever for no reason”.

I bet the vast majority of people making things also want cutting edge healthcare for themselves and loved ones, for their whole life, which is equivalent to make money or die.

Re: Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? [video]

#172

Post by gausswho »

throwaboat wrote: post #160

I'd like to point to tabs in browsers as a problem area. Ctrl + T is a problem. I'll set the scene that I think most of us have experienced: you're working on a project. You start down the rabbit hole of research to find a solution to something. Maybe you find it quickly somehow. But this case, you don't. The problem is too big for an easy answer and instead requires synthesis and reflection. Eventually, after openin…

You may like Zen browser.

It''s best just to ignore tabs anyway. After reopening a window they'll be inactive until you open them.

Re: Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? [video]

#173

Post by zbentley »

porkbrain wrote: post #163
clearleaf wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such an indictment of modern technology. No offense is meant to you for doing what works for you, but it is buck wild that this is the "fix" they've come up with. As somebody learning about this for the first time it sounds equivalent to a world where screenshotting became really hard so people started taking photos of their screen so they could screenshot the photo. How could such a fundamental aspect of usi…

Unfortunately, some apps don't support text selection and on some websites the text selection is unpredictable. I'd actually compare screen OCR to screenshots. Instead of every app and every website implementing their own screenshot functionality, the system provides one for you. Same goes for text selection. Instead of every context having to agree on tagging the text and directions, your phone has a quick way of le…

> some apps don't support text selection and on some websites the text selection is unpredictable.

That correctly identifies the problem. Now why is that, and how can we fix it?

It seems fixable; native GUI apps have COM bindings that can fairly reliably produce the text present in certain controls in the vast majority of cases. Web apps (and "desktop" apps that are actually web apps) have accessibility attributes and at least nominally the notion of separating document data from presentation. Now why do so few applications support text extraction via those channels? If the answer is "it's hard/easier not to", how can we make the right way easier than the wrong way?

Re: Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? [video]

#174

Post by hulitu »

rcxdude wrote: post #170
3v1n0 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Try to maintain the whole matrix or possibilities then you tell me...

Which is why you should think about how these options interact and compose at the start, as opposed to only adding options in an ad-hoc manner (whether you do it willy-nilly or only when your arm is really twisted)

"You mean we shouldn't use 10 layers of abstraction and 274 libraries to achieve our goal ? I mean, we use a lot of resuources, but look how polished the UI is: everything is flat. "

Thank god the RAM prices have risen. Maybe some people will start to programm with their heads instead of their (AI) IDE.

Re: Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? [video]

#175

Post by hulitu »

stephenlf wrote: post #143
PunchyHamster wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He even mentioned how unpopular making things configurable is in the UI community. Inability to imagine someone might have different idea about what's useful is general plague of UI/UX industry. And there seem to be zero care given to usage by user that have to use the app longer than 30 seconds a day. Productivity vs learning time curve is basically flat, and low, with exception being pretty much "the tools made b…

Convention over configuration is a powerful idea. Most people don’t want to twiddle with configs. The power user approach is the way to go.

> Most people don’t want to twiddle with configs.

Most people also don't care about the mothers of programmers. Until, you know, they have to send an SMS using exactly (particular) one of the 2 SIMs present in the phone and the 20 years old app will not let them.

Re: Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? [video]

#176

Post by chrsw »

Some of favorite desktop environments: NeXTSTEP BeOS/Haiku ChromeOS Raspberry PI macOS CDE I like uniformity, simplicity and consistency, stability, few surprises, little guessing. I want to use the computer. I don't need to become an expert in computer interfaces. Like cars. I just want to drive the car. I don't want to have to build or customize my own automobile ergonomics. Much of my time is spent on the command line anyway, but when I have to use the GUI, please make it very simple.

Re: Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? [video]

#177

Post by porise »

I didn't watch the 45 min video but does he mention tiling environments? They have solved every complaint I had before.

I can immediately swap to the exact windows I want without tabbing, I can rebind everything to pull up whatever application I want, and I can even switch a window to floating.

Re: Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? [video]

#178

Post by hulitu »

AlienRobot wrote: post #115
taskforcegemini wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are using OCR for selecting plain text?

At least it's not AI... yet.

It is a poor person, sitting in a 3rd world country, thanscribing the text in your clipboard. See Alexa for details. /s

I'm only half joking.

Re: Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? [video]

#179

Post by hulitu »

lo_zamoyski wrote: post #112
mc32 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things like hypertext, search, email and early social networks (chat networks connecting disparate people) and also the paperless office (finally). Images and video corrupted everything as they now became that which addicted eyeballs.

> chat networks I think you may be looking at history through rose-tinted glasses. Sure, social media today is not the same, so the comparison isn’t quite sensible, but IRC was an unpleasant place full of petty egos and nasty people.

> but IRC was an unpleasant place full of petty egos and nasty people.

One should take a look at HN. /s

I find the discussions on the early Internet (until around 2010) more civilised than today.

Today, the internet is fully weaponized by and for big companies and 3 letter agencies.

Re: Are we stuck with the same Desktop UX forever? [video]

#180

Post by hulitu »

Telaneo wrote: post #141
ryandrake wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve never understood the idea of a software developer who doesn’t use a computer outside of development. Who are these people?

People who got into software development not because they enjoy working with computers, but rather because it pays well. Outside of work, they're the same as any other casual who's got a phone as their primary computing device.

> any other casual who's got a phone as their primary computing device.

I tried to use my phone as a "computing device", but i mostly can use it as a toy. Working with text and files on a phone is... how to say nicely ... interesting.

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