It's interesting how these trends have come and gone for the entire history of computing. A constant shift between "computer-origin" and "real-world origin". A

It's interesting how these trends have come and gone for the entire history of computing. A constant shift between "computer-origin" and "real-world origin". At first, actual paper - you could say this is "real-world" but the interface is 99% because of how the computer works. TTY is again 90%+. But then we start introducing real-world components like folders, pages, and paper-based analogues like cut+paste. For a long time the design focus seemed "let's make this as much like the real-world workflow, within the limits of technology". Freestyle is an excellent example of the nadir of this: a very "real-world" interface, as much as they could possibly do constrained by technology. But there was a point where the limits reversed: "a computer can do this, but we have no 'real-world' way to display it". Design hammered against this problem culminating with the Skueomorphism of the mid 00's. Casting off those shackles led to Flat design, but maybe that threw the baby out with the bathwater? Without any real-world grounding a lot of the basic affordances went with them, relying entirely on a user's previous experience with computers. A real ouroborous :) Maybe with "soft skueomorphism" there's a reasonable middle ground for now? But soft skueo doesn't approach some of the great things this demo represents. Effortless human-first HCI, enhanced by computers, while ignoring "real-world" limitations. That's the dream.