> Every change I’ve made in my working environment over the past year or so has also been a lessening of immersiveness. My interfaces have become less rich, les

> Every change I’ve made in my working environment over the past year or so has also been a lessening of immersiveness. My interfaces have become less rich, less colorful, less dynamic. I really like the author's place -vs- tool metaphor to contrast wannabe immersive experiences with tools that stay out of your way. I don't think it makes sense to avoid having places you go to (where you feel "at home") -- I mean that very generally, but even in the specific case of computing, your goto places might be your favorite browser, the command line, the unix system, Emacs, your IDE etc. A place where you feel at home, at control, with a sense of the multitude of possibilities lying ahead, and still in the driver's seat. The important requirement then is that the environment shouldn't try to nudge you around (especially towards misaligned goals). This is where most web/software platforms of today come up short, IMHO. This metaphor is also the best elucidation of Alan Kay's pithy quote (reproduced approximately): To me, a computer is worth more than my car, because of all the things it enables me to do. Most people, however, pay about as much for a computer, as they pay for a TV, and use it in roughly the same way.