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  • I thought I was retarded…until I stopped using Windows 3.0

I thought I was retarded…until I stopped using Windows 3.0

For more experienced users, cloud storage solutions like Dropbox provide a much more familiar experience. But for novice users, history has shown that direct interaction with the file system is where usability goes to die. iCloud blunts the worst of these sharp edges, but in the process it also sacrifices some extremely desirable traits that users cling to.

Winblows3.0Jobs had this philosophy as well – apparently a lot of user interaction testing shows that file system confuses the hell out of some people. But, does anyone remember Windows 3.0? The file system – if I remember correctly – worked the same way. Files were saved intra-application. It royally sucked. It just wasn’t useful. And you see that in iOS as well. One of the best parts of System 7 was the file-oriented nature of the OS, the solid-ness of the system with respect to files. I miss that.

So I’m against this iOS trend. I think it is limiting for the tool – and tools should be as empowering as possible right?

Ars Technica, 7/25/2012
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