Re: Why do we need apps?

patrick j <usemywebsite@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Currently people think in terms of applications. They think about Word
Processors, or Image Editors, or Web Browsers or whatever. They've got into
that way because computers developed in this way.

And also because it is more flexible. A "document", even if you
generalize that concept quite a lot, is not a concept that fits lots of
uses for computers. You happen to have used as examples things that do
fit well into the "document" model.

But try that on lots of other uses for computers. I have no idea how to
envision analysis of aircraft flight test data (the area I was working
in before my recent retirement) in terms of documents. Sure, there are
zillions of documents running around (the classic joke is that an
airplane can't fly until the weight of the paperwork exceeds the weight
of the airplane), but that's not what the data analysis is directly
about. I'm sure that one could twist things enough to describe it in
terms of a document instead of an application, but I'll maintain that is
not at all a natural thing to do. That would be trying to force people
to fit in a pre-determined mold rather than making the computer
accomodate the people.

And yes, by the way, Macs get used these days for that kind of work.
Otherwise I would never have become a Mac user at all. That was much of
the initial attraction of the Mac for me; it was a nicely integrated
Unix box that also had a nice GUI. (This is as of OS X, of course.
Prior to OS X, I had no interest at all in Macs; tried them, but they
weren't for me.)

Of course, some things do nicely fit the document model - documents, for
example. It is nice to have available. but don't try to force-fit
everything into that mold. Some things don't fit well.

--
Richard Maine | Good judgement comes from experience;
email: last name at domain . net | experience comes from bad judgement.
domain: summertriangle | -- Mark Twain
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: printer cartridge replacement reality
    ... Ben Bradley wrote: ... >> There was a good NG article recently about Epson printers. ... >> Can one use generics as one sees fit? ... Link to my "Computers for disabled Veterans" project website deleted ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: Cell Spacing Problem
    ... then go to File> Page Setup and check the box to fit the output to 1 ... > It's not really MY computer's problem as other computers I've sent the ... to see if it is really the column that is wider or the text ... Check that you actually have a font ...
    (microsoft.public.excel.misc)
  • Office on multiple user machines
    ... better fit... ... I work for a school district, and our computers have Windows 2000 on ...
    (microsoft.public.office.setup)
  • Re: SX64 which one of you guyz sniped me :)
    ... walk off the end of the earth. ... threw a fit because things weren't happening in a way I could ... the money up and had just finished a summer programming class at the ... Computers are incredible these days ...
    (comp.sys.cbm)
  • ID old computers from Management Graphics?
    ... fit this, and my searching showed a couple similar questions here. ... The name on the computers state "Management Graphics" (Minneapolis, ... say "Sync Loop" and one that says "Sync Out". ...
    (sci.electronics.misc)