some cool general ideas hidden in the pile there, but most of it seems 'meh.
Holding down capslock and typing in phrases does not seem like it'd be fun to use... id probably skip that feature. The talk is a bit old, and seems like further idea pushing of zoomable and pannable interfaces after the iphone unveiling 5 months prior. Not on an apple rant or fan boy push, just sayin'
Wish he went more into detail or had functioning examples of the nurse's patient sheet stuff, that would be pretty awesome.
The zooming and open-desktop would be very cool, almost as if your computer work space was an actual space, that you could move through. I guess then the typing thing would be necessary, but im sure there are other ways around having to type (thinking hand gestures, voice commands, or pen gestures via other methods of input).
the whole thing felt like a pitch for Enso (which i guess it was), and all Enso seems to be is a way to not use the mouse to get to applications. The bit about FPS's and users having difficult times using the mouse is valid, but the same applies to a keyboard. Just seems he assumes too much on personal experience *shrug*
So I was on may to watch that cool vid... but since Google hosted it on Google video, one can't skip the boring part and jump to the cool bits. yay for user interface design!
I was hoping it would be something boring so I'd fall asleep, but unfortunately it was actually interesting. Unfortunately he isn't that good of a speaker with all the umm's everywhere. One of my own shortcomings is that I find them very distracting and I lose my focus..
There are some really nice ideas in the presentation - I have to agree that the speaker himself didn't really command the audience.
The tool he showed, Enso, is very nice indeed. I've been using it for a while on my my work PC, purely because Quicksilver is only available on the mac.
Seems to me that all he's doing is taking the "star trek" model of accessing services/programs via natural language, only his is typed rather than spoken. Nothing revolutionary there as far as I'm concerned.
Yeah, not an awesome speaker, but I think we've all seen far worse.
Additionally when you have multiple documents and services which share names and functions it becomes more complex and difficult.
The whole idea of discarding hierarchies seems silly as well. The purpose of hierarchy seems to be to organize once or refine organization and to receive the benefit of that organization in real time and in perpetuity. To discard that is to assume that the mind is capable of performing or maintaining this organization in real time, 100% of the time, which isn't the case.
If you've ever used Quicksilver, you'll see how excellent this system is. On my macs dock I have icons to my most used software - Firefox, Silo, Photoshop, Skype, Lightroom.
If I wanted to use any other application I could simply open Finder and navigate to my Apps folder, or click the apps shortcut in my dock, then browse for the program I wanted; however it's simply faster and easier to invoke Quicksilver (CTRL-SPACE) and begin typing the name of the app. It remembers your most used apps, so typing S lists Skype then Safari, then my Steampunk reference images folder... you hightlight the one you want with the arrow keys and press Return.
That's fast. But since I know I want to run Skype, I press CTRL-SPACE and type sk then return. Safari and steampunk are ignored.
It stores URLS. CTRL-SPACE + lif + Return is Lifehacker.com That's quicker than finding a bookmark.
It knows my address book. CTRL-SPACE + start typing persons name. Press enter to show their address details, press Right arrow and then enter to send them an email.
It knows my itunes playlists. CTRL-SPACE + gypsy RETURN starts my gypsy punk playlist.
All of these things can already be done on the computer, but simply beginning to type in English is much nicer, and usually faster.
Quicksilver is nice! Another option on pc is Launchy, but again: It's not quicksilver.
Edit: Also, THANK YOU RICK for not saying something along the lines of 'OMG had ThIs 4 yrs on mac, Micro$oft sux lolol'
Actual intelligent conversation on non cross-platform features? Surely not!
Speaking which, does anyone know of any blogs that post interesting entries about related things? New concepts of desktop (gimmie, symphonyOS), productivity stuff, etc...
Not Lifehacker, something that focuses purely on experiments in GUI.
Replies
-caseyjones
Holding down capslock and typing in phrases does not seem like it'd be fun to use... id probably skip that feature. The talk is a bit old, and seems like further idea pushing of zoomable and pannable interfaces after the iphone unveiling 5 months prior. Not on an apple rant or fan boy push, just sayin'
Wish he went more into detail or had functioning examples of the nurse's patient sheet stuff, that would be pretty awesome.
The zooming and open-desktop would be very cool, almost as if your computer work space was an actual space, that you could move through. I guess then the typing thing would be necessary, but im sure there are other ways around having to type (thinking hand gestures, voice commands, or pen gestures via other methods of input).
the whole thing felt like a pitch for Enso (which i guess it was), and all Enso seems to be is a way to not use the mouse to get to applications. The bit about FPS's and users having difficult times using the mouse is valid, but the same applies to a keyboard. Just seems he assumes too much on personal experience *shrug*
i like the shovel metaphor though,
The tool he showed, Enso, is very nice indeed. I've been using it for a while on my my work PC, purely because Quicksilver is only available on the mac.
1 hour?
(Rick, quicksilver saved my life!)
Yeah, not an awesome speaker, but I think we've all seen far worse.
Additionally when you have multiple documents and services which share names and functions it becomes more complex and difficult.
The whole idea of discarding hierarchies seems silly as well. The purpose of hierarchy seems to be to organize once or refine organization and to receive the benefit of that organization in real time and in perpetuity. To discard that is to assume that the mind is capable of performing or maintaining this organization in real time, 100% of the time, which isn't the case.
UPLOAD VIRUS TO MEMORIES
If I wanted to use any other application I could simply open Finder and navigate to my Apps folder, or click the apps shortcut in my dock, then browse for the program I wanted; however it's simply faster and easier to invoke Quicksilver (CTRL-SPACE) and begin typing the name of the app. It remembers your most used apps, so typing S lists Skype then Safari, then my Steampunk reference images folder... you hightlight the one you want with the arrow keys and press Return.
That's fast. But since I know I want to run Skype, I press CTRL-SPACE and type sk then return. Safari and steampunk are ignored.
It stores URLS. CTRL-SPACE + lif + Return is Lifehacker.com That's quicker than finding a bookmark.
It knows my address book. CTRL-SPACE + start typing persons name. Press enter to show their address details, press Right arrow and then enter to send them an email.
It knows my itunes playlists. CTRL-SPACE + gypsy RETURN starts my gypsy punk playlist.
All of these things can already be done on the computer, but simply beginning to type in English is much nicer, and usually faster.
Google has a nice video of it.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8493378861634507068
Edit: Also, THANK YOU RICK for not saying something along the lines of 'OMG had ThIs 4 yrs on mac, Micro$oft sux lolol'
Actual intelligent conversation on non cross-platform features? Surely not!
Speaking which, does anyone know of any blogs that post interesting entries about related things? New concepts of desktop (gimmie, symphonyOS), productivity stuff, etc...
Not Lifehacker, something that focuses purely on experiments in GUI.
www.bumptop.com
I'll take Enso + Sync/Dragon/what-the-fuck-ever as that seems a bit more revolutionary rather than revisionary.