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Change is afoot in UI land!
Since the release of the Apple iPad last year, there have been some rather interesting developments in the computer industry and in society in general, I would like to say.
Like it or not, the horizons are broadening and new groups of people are coming into the world of computing. People who have previously not had any real contact with computers as we know them, or at best very little. People who regard the computer in a different way from how we nerds and geeks view it.
The old idea of a file-centric computing experience are slowly starting to erode, perhaps to the chagrin of us nerds, but surely to the joy of everybody else. Back in the 1960's and 1970's Xerox did an awful lot of research on how we humans could interact with computers and they found that a blank canvas upon which to do what we pleased was the best. No files and folders to muck around in, and no apps for that matter. Just the fairly basic tools that enabled text, numbers and creation of basic graphics.
Basically the wheels are turning and Apple appears to gearing their products towards a future where we have a much more content-centric experience, rather than fiddle around with files in folders and other such archaic metaphors. You could view the original iPhone as the precursor to the modern computer, from that perspective. Scaled down, minimalistic and to the point. Of course then there was the focusing on apps with the advent of the App Store, but for the most part is has remained an easy to learn interface.
I'm not sure this will really affect all areas of the computer industry or all imaginable scenarios, but I firmly believe we will se a move towards this newer type of interface for personal computers. I use the term "personal computer" here as the catch all phrase for the computer in our pockets, the tablet and the more traditional form-factor of a laptop or desktop PC, but only the ones for consumers. I wager corporate IT will initially fight this as much as they can since it's just plain different and they seem to rue change in any and all forms, giver or take.
Given that both older people and younger people I have met really don't like the way computers work in their current incarnation, I think Apple is making a smart move. The time is ripe for a refresh of what we consider a computer to look like, work like and behave like. Should this current success continue, I only hope the over all philosophy will rub off on the rest of the computer and technology industry. Maybe then we can have computers that are built for humans, not engineers.
Then we just have to make printers, copiers and dishwashers more understandable. I mean really, do they hate their customers or something?
Robert Falck
Robert is a freelance tech journalist from Sweden. You can follow his posts here on Bagel Tech and on his site streakmachine.com or you can follow him on twitter @streakmachine.
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Robert Falck