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I'll agree with this observed trend. Colleagues of mine at a top-tier university are already seeing this in students. They have "computing" experience, but no

I'll agree with this observed trend. Colleagues of mine at a top-tier university are already seeing this in students. They have "computing" experience, but no real sense of the file system as an organizational and navigational tool. This poses a question in my mind: Are we creating a world of perpetual intermediate users? I think there are definite advantages to reducing cognitive noise in "casual computing" found in current mobile experiences. What's less clear is the path individuals will take from this world of per-app organization into one where content creation, workflow, and eventually implementation details increasingly take precedence. It's not enough to say "the king is dead" until we also have a way to add ", long live the king."

macspoofing 13y ago
>Are we creating a world of perpetual intermediate users? No, we're including users that were previously alienated from computing. The desktop metaphor has been with us for 20 years and there's a segment of the population that just doesn't get it, doesn't understand it, and just can't get used to it. It causes a whole slew of issues (e.g. the virus-pocalypse of the early 2000s).
- aidenn0 13y ago
  Yes, if users can't obtain and open external, untrusted documents then they can't get viruses. So what? Whether or not it's abstracted in a file system, people will be sharing documents.
devcpp 13y ago
We could increase the productivity of humanity in fabulous ways if we all knew how to use computers efficiently. Instead, we go the other way and only use them as entertainment platforms. Too bad education doesn't make big money.
- mgkimsal 13y ago
  Education does make big money (pearson), it's just generally people don't have a choice - they're not spending their 'disposable' income on it.
- saidajigumi 13y ago
  > We could increase the productivity of humanity in fabulous ways if we all knew how to use computers efficiently. I'll argue that's not the problem. The problem is more of nurturing a social culture of continuous learning and creation. How many of us knew folks when we were in school who just couldn't wait "to be done with school forever"? How did that travesty, a vast failing of human education, come to pass? It's easy to be elitist and point to those of us who dodged the bullets as being "superior" or "smarter" or whatever, but I've also witnessed too many occasions where good environments, mentors, teachers, etc. lit the spark in learners who might otherwise have been judged unremarkable. I've also seen (and apparently there are now studies on) the positive skill effect of having access to computers-as-making-devices as a kid can have. IIRC, this relates to a substantial part of the successes that Harvey Mudd College is having in bringing more women into computing programs[1]. In short, changing education to embrace students who didn't have "deep" access to computers prior to college is helping to close the gender gap. Mobile or no, I'll ask: do children have sufficient access, role-models, and mentors regarding computers (mobile or no) as tools of creation? What does the changing profile of computer use in the mobile era imply for education towards computing-enabled professions? [1] http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/05/01/178810710/How-One-College-Is-Closing-The-Tech-Gender-Gap http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/05/01/178810...
grannyg00se 13y ago
I've seen even the most basic user learn to create folders on their desktop and use them to organize.
jnbiche 13y ago
I think the route is still crystal clear: use Linux. That's the start of the path that led me to becoming a "real" programmer (as opposed to just a cargo cult programmer). I think it's possible to use OSX and even Windows in the same manner, but it's not in your face like it is with Linux (e.g., it's very hard to avoid learning the command line in Linux).

macspoofing 13y ago

>Are we creating a world of perpetual intermediate users? No, we're including users that were previously alienated from computing. The desktop metaphor has been with us for 20 years and there's a segment of the population that just doesn't get it, doesn't understand it, and just can't get used to it. It causes a whole slew of issues (e.g. the virus-pocalypse of the early 2000s).

aidenn0 13y ago
Yes, if users can't obtain and open external, untrusted documents then they can't get viruses. So what? Whether or not it's abstracted in a file system, people will be sharing documents.

devcpp 13y ago

We could increase the productivity of humanity in fabulous ways if we all knew how to use computers efficiently. Instead, we go the other way and only use them as entertainment platforms. Too bad education doesn't make big money.

mgkimsal 13y ago
Education does make big money (pearson), it's just generally people don't have a choice - they're not spending their 'disposable' income on it.
saidajigumi 13y ago
> We could increase the productivity of humanity in fabulous ways if we all knew how to use computers efficiently. I'll argue that's not the problem. The problem is more of nurturing a social culture of continuous learning and creation. How many of us knew folks when we were in school who just couldn't wait "to be done with school forever"? How did that travesty, a vast failing of human education, come to pass? It's easy to be elitist and point to those of us who dodged the bullets as being "superior" or "smarter" or whatever, but I've also witnessed too many occasions where good environments, mentors, teachers, etc. lit the spark in learners who might otherwise have been judged unremarkable. I've also seen (and apparently there are now studies on) the positive skill effect of having access to computers-as-making-devices as a kid can have. IIRC, this relates to a substantial part of the successes that Harvey Mudd College is having in bringing more women into computing programs[1]. In short, changing education to embrace students who didn't have "deep" access to computers prior to college is helping to close the gender gap. Mobile or no, I'll ask: do children have sufficient access, role-models, and mentors regarding computers (mobile or no) as tools of creation? What does the changing profile of computer use in the mobile era imply for education towards computing-enabled professions? [1] http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/05/01/178810710/How-One-College-Is-Closing-The-Tech-Gender-Gap http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/05/01/178810...

grannyg00se 13y ago

I've seen even the most basic user learn to create folders on their desktop and use them to organize.

jnbiche 13y ago

I think the route is still crystal clear: use Linux. That's the start of the path that led me to becoming a "real" programmer (as opposed to just a cargo cult programmer). I think it's possible to use OSX and even Windows in the same manner, but it's not in your face like it is with Linux (e.g., it's very hard to avoid learning the command line in Linux).