3 ms·
The concept of a file only sort of gets modeled within the scope of what a directory is, with generic tooling; otherwise, you just have "documents". And there i
by saurik 2y ago
The concept of a file only sort of gets modeled within the scope of what a directory is, with generic tooling; otherwise, you just have "documents". And there is also a big difference between really knowing what it is, and doing it a handful of times.
Like, imagine using an iPad your entire childhood, and then maybe getting a Chromebook. You just aren't going to have the same level of comfort with what files are or how they might work, as you don't really ever think in their terms.
Do you need to actually "download a file" to apply to a University, or is it a captive web form now? If you do, imagine doing it on an iPad: you download the file and it goes into some transient Downloads UI before getting opened directly by your word processor. Certainly creating a resume doesn't cause much interaction with "files".
You certainly don't, anymore, use files to move pictures from your phone to your computer: you use a cloud service like iCloud Photos or Google Photos, which automatically "syncs" all of your data from your phone to the same app on your desktop.
If you want to create a meme on reddit--which you certainly are doing on your phone or iPad, as a computer is complicated and lame--you aren't using generic tools to edit files you saved to disk: the closets thing to a filesystem you are working with is your camera roll, working in an app that let's you add remix from it and then saves the result back to it.
People at companies like Apple have gone to such great lengths to hide the complexity--and limit the ways of composition--of software that, at best, "Files" is just a sort of confusing app you might sometimes get forced to use only if you have no other reasonable option, and so you don't have a mental model for it; and even then, it's separate from where your data "really is".
- ziddoap 2y agoThis just doesn't mesh with my experience at all, but enough people are saying something similar that my city must just be in a bubble, I guess.
- the_snooze 2y ago>People at companies like Apple have gone to such great lengths to hide the complexity--and limit the ways of composition--of software They also do it in confusing, inconsistent, and self-serving ways. What does it mean to "save data" like an image or a document? In Google Photos, it means you associate a copy of it with your Google account. In MS Office by default, it means you stick it in OneDrive. Everyone wants the "happy path" of data storage and retrieval to lead directly to their own proprietary systems with their own proprietary implementations of basic file-like operations. No one wants the default to be the tried-and-true method of local files and folders.
- disqard 2y agoOne of these paths allows for rent-seeking, while the other gives the end-user autonomy and independence. Which one would a corporation pick to maximize its profits? (Playing devil's advocate, it is easier to support backup and restore via the cloud, vs. having end-users corrupt/lose their files, then clamor for end-user support)
- ryandrake 2y ago> People at companies like Apple have gone to such great lengths to hide the complexity--and limit the ways of composition--of software that, at best, "Files" is just a sort of confusing app you might sometimes get forced to use only if you have no other reasonable option In my kid's mind (and in the mind of her peers in middle school), if you have to open up the Files app to solve a problem, or Windows Explorer, that's seen as dark wizardry that only hardcore computer fixers do. Kind of like how the command line was thought of 20 years ago: Only sorcerers use the command line! Well, now, only sorcerers browse their hard drive for files.
- disqard 2y agoWhenever such concrete realities are revealed, I chuckle at Marc Prensky's ideas from "Digital Natives" (that still linger on today): > Digital Natives are used to receiving information really fast. They like to parallel process and multi-task. They prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite. They prefer random access (like hypertext). They function best when networked. They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards. They prefer games to “serious” work. Even reading this back when it was published, it came across as drivel. Now, we have doomscroll-optimized short-form video which does precisely what Prensky recommended, and nobody in their right minds would suggest that it is healthy/good/beneficial for kids to consume that kind of media.