4 ms·

> The demo had multiple people working on the same computer remotely, with their own cursors and ability to do things on the system at the same time. Best we ha

> The demo had multiple people working on the same computer remotely, with their own cursors and ability to do things on the system at the same time. Best we have now is web-browsers syncing data silos, or a one way "let this person control my mouse + keyboard". Apple's multi-user support in it's "iWork" productivity apps actually comes very close to this, and it's a real shame that it's not as well known as it is. In fact Apple just demo'd improvements to it a couple of days ago at WWDC. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206181 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206181 It works almost exactly like you're describing and frankly I think it's amazing and am surprised more people don't rave about it.

freeone3000 4y ago
It's OSX-only, which makes it a non-starter for most orgs. We actually are 100% macbook, but we still use Google Docs since some people want to edit documents from their phone.
- LeoPanthera 4y ago
  That's reasonable, but if the question is "why doesn't this exist" then the answer is "it does". (For what it's worth, it's also available on any platform via the web app versions of iWork at icloud.com. I'm not saying this is necessarily practical, but, it's there.)
  - mikro2nd 4y ago
    I think the point is that if this only exists in Apple World, then really it exists as a little, isolated island, and the entire point of having "anyone with a computer" able to play is lost.
    - criddell 4y ago
      Nothing will ever be "anyone with a computer". It really all hinges on how you want to define "computer". There are some prerequisites like you need a network connection and display and input device(s). You also need some client software. In this case, the client consisting of a particular software stack doesn't seem that unreasonable. If I can't play with you using the computer in my laser printer it doesn't mean the vision of collaborative computing still isn't here.
      - freeone3000 4y ago
        I think, for a desktop work environment, people would be happy if it worked, given a standard keyboard, mouse, and display, on iOS, Android, Windows, and OSX, with Linux support a bonus. MS Office supports this, as does Google Docs, and apparently, so does iWork!
turboponyy 4y ago
As a counterpoint (and not necessarily a counterargument), this sort of paradigm would be orthogonal to and perhaps incompatible with the merits of "personal" computing. Collaborating in this kind of multiuser workspace requires common knowledge of a shared interface that does not necessarily provide efficient workflow for all. If a person were to use my customized setup, they wouldn't know how to close a window, let alone how to open one - everything is optimized solely for my personal ease of use, almost always at the cost of familiarity. One of the few reasons why I have Windows installed on my machine was so that my ex-girlfriend could use my computer when she needed to. Somewhat amusingly, I had to teach her how to access the arrow keys under a function layer of my 60% keyboard to select the correct bootloader entry in order to do that. That's two new concepts foreign to most average users just to do what they might consider "turn on the computer".
- mwcampbell 4y ago
  Your concern about tailored user interfaces also applies to disabled people who physically can't do things the same way as the rest of the group, e.g. blind people who need to use a screen reader and keyboard commands rather than look at the screen and use a pointing device. Having said that, some implementations of collaboration don't have this problem. In most modern networked applications that are designed to be multi-user, each client runs its own instance of the UI, and the clients synchronize the underlying data. This scheme can accommodate different user needs much better than, say, using something like VNC to have a bunch of people watch a shared frame buffer and take turns sending input to a shared UI.

freeone3000 4y ago

It's OSX-only, which makes it a non-starter for most orgs. We actually are 100% macbook, but we still use Google Docs since some people want to edit documents from their phone.

LeoPanthera 4y ago
That's reasonable, but if the question is "why doesn't this exist" then the answer is "it does". (For what it's worth, it's also available on any platform via the web app versions of iWork at icloud.com. I'm not saying this is necessarily practical, but, it's there.)
- mikro2nd 4y ago
  I think the point is that if this only exists in Apple World, then really it exists as a little, isolated island, and the entire point of having "anyone with a computer" able to play is lost.
  - criddell 4y ago
    Nothing will ever be "anyone with a computer". It really all hinges on how you want to define "computer". There are some prerequisites like you need a network connection and display and input device(s). You also need some client software. In this case, the client consisting of a particular software stack doesn't seem that unreasonable. If I can't play with you using the computer in my laser printer it doesn't mean the vision of collaborative computing still isn't here.
    - freeone3000 4y ago
      I think, for a desktop work environment, people would be happy if it worked, given a standard keyboard, mouse, and display, on iOS, Android, Windows, and OSX, with Linux support a bonus. MS Office supports this, as does Google Docs, and apparently, so does iWork!

turboponyy 4y ago

As a counterpoint (and not necessarily a counterargument), this sort of paradigm would be orthogonal to and perhaps incompatible with the merits of "personal" computing. Collaborating in this kind of multiuser workspace requires common knowledge of a shared interface that does not necessarily provide efficient workflow for all. If a person were to use my customized setup, they wouldn't know how to close a window, let alone how to open one - everything is optimized solely for my personal ease of use, almost always at the cost of familiarity. One of the few reasons why I have Windows installed on my machine was so that my ex-girlfriend could use my computer when she needed to. Somewhat amusingly, I had to teach her how to access the arrow keys under a function layer of my 60% keyboard to select the correct bootloader entry in order to do that. That's two new concepts foreign to most average users just to do what they might consider "turn on the computer".

mwcampbell 4y ago
Your concern about tailored user interfaces also applies to disabled people who physically can't do things the same way as the rest of the group, e.g. blind people who need to use a screen reader and keyboard commands rather than look at the screen and use a pointing device. Having said that, some implementations of collaboration don't have this problem. In most modern networked applications that are designed to be multi-user, each client runs its own instance of the UI, and the clients synchronize the underlying data. This scheme can accommodate different user needs much better than, say, using something like VNC to have a bunch of people watch a shared frame buffer and take turns sending input to a shared UI.