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GUIs– Mediating the Experience

GUIs– Mediating the Experience. ATS 315. The Glass Teletype. Mac Did It Back Then, Too. Metaphors. The move command “mv” is a metaphor—it makes it seem like a file is “moving”. mv a6.c /output Nothing is really “moving”—the file allocation table is just being changed…. Metaphors.

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GUIs– Mediating the Experience

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  1. GUIs– Mediating the Experience ATS 315

  2. The Glass Teletype

  3. Mac Did It Back Then, Too

  4. Metaphors • The move command “mv” is a metaphor—it makes it seem like a file is “moving”. • mv a6.c /output • Nothing is really “moving”—the file allocation table is just being changed…

  5. Metaphors • The file allocation table used to say that the file “a6.c” was in some directory and resided on the disk at some address. • Now the table says that the file is at that same address but refers to some other directory.

  6. Metaphors in Windows • How do you move a file in Windows? • Drag and Drop • How it really works: • Communicates with the mouse • Fancy graphics on the screen • Triggers a “mv” command “behind the scenes”

  7. Metaphors in Windows • So there is a metaphor (icons, folders, etc.) separating you from another metaphor (mv) which separates you from the real work (changing the file allocation table).

  8. Metaphors in Windows • Control Panel • The Recycling Bin • The Pointer • Mr. Paper Clip • The Desktop • And about a zillion more!

  9. Why all the metaphors?

  10. Why all the metaphors? • They mediate the experience!

  11. Apple Saw This In 1984 • Introduction of the Macintosh at the Super Bowl. • Looks a LOT like current computers. • Made computers something anyone could use.

  12. Apple Saw This In 1984 • No command line at all! • In you couldn’t do it with a mouse, you didn’t do it at all! • A one-button mouse! • A sealed case!

  13. Apple’s Culture • It took special tools to open the case. • Opening the case voided the warranty. • No command line = no hacking. • Only Apple can build Macs. • How Apple makes money. • Makes the computers very expensive.

  14. Apple Family Album

  15. Apple Family Album

  16. Apple Family Album

  17. Apple Family Album

  18. Apple Family Album

  19. Apple Family Album

  20. Microsoft • Went a different direction, selling the operating system, not the computer. • WHY?

  21. Microsoft • Windows (before XP) was really just a beautiful DOS program. • When Windows crashes, you just end up in DOS again.

  22. Microsoft • PC hardware was a free-market – other folks designed it, and competition made it cheap. • Cheap = good, so Microsoft took over the world! • Cheap also means ugly.

  23. Ugly PCs

  24. Ugly PCs

  25. Ugly PCs

  26. Ugly PCs

  27. Ugly PCs

  28. Ugly PCs

  29. How Microsoft Makes Money • By selling operating systems. • Make more money selling imperfect software than they would selling perfect software! • Why?

  30. “Mac Vs. PC” Wars • The battle was about aesthetics, technology, philosophy, etc. • But the real difference that changed everything: the closed hardware of Mac and the open hardware of PCs • Macs were expensive and exclusive and basically disappeared. • PCs were cheap and cheaper all the time. They took over the world.

  31. The Result of the War • Apple: Addicted to selling hardware to small, captive markets. • Microsoft: Addicted to selling operating systems to the whole world. No motivation to fix problems, make it beautiful, easy, etc. (Dinosaurs) • Cheap hardware: fertile ground for Linux. (furry mice)

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