4 ms·

How do you copy a bunch of documents and pictures to a USB drive if you don't have a full filesystem? "USB drives are outdated, use the cloud" is not a valid an

• benaston 15y ago
  Maybe I was unclear in my earlier comment. The best way of implementing file handling is likely some full full-featured filesystem under the hood. My point is that this can be abstracted away to something more user friendly than a tree containing hundreds or thousands of folders and files. Transfer off a device obviously needs to be considered, but exposing a device (e.g a USB drive) as a hierarchical filesystem is usually unneccessary (and, IMO, counter productive from a usability standpoint).
  • sid0 15y ago
    My point is that this can be abstracted away to something more user friendly than a tree containing hundreds or thousands of folders and files. It's apparently hard enough that no one's been able to provide a better solution to the general problem yet, only specific instances. (No, the iPad doesn't count because it doesn't even have a USB port.) So instead of researching pie-in-the-sky solutions (which is incidentally what MSR does), they've decided to invest resources in something that we know works to the extent that it does.
    • benaston 15y ago
      The iPad provides the ability to connect an SD card, which fulfils a similar use case... but discounting the iPad, OSX Lion takes steps away from the filesystem, with all the files openable by a given application visible a la coverflow with a flick of the wrist. It also does away with the saving metaphor in many apps, further distancing the user from filesystem concerns. In light of this, it would seem more a matter of will than being "too hard" or "pie in the sky".