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Ask Slashdot: Is the Recycle Bin a Good GUI Metaphor?

Posted by timothy on from the why-call-it-a-recycle-bin-when-it's-trash? dept.

dsginter writes "During a recent Windows 7 upgrade, I disabled the 'Recycle Bin' from appearing on the user desktop. Why? Because this allows the users to retrieve errant deletions. While this was the goal of the 'Recycle Bin' in the first place, most people (including myself) are in the good habit of keeping a tidy workspace and 'taking out the trash' when they see that it is full. For some people, their OCD meant that deleting a file was a two step process: delete the file and then empty the recycle bin. By disabling it from view, I have found that the original function is restored for the smattering of times that it is actually needed. Why are we wasting pixels on such a poor metaphor?" Going further, is there some combination of metaphor and method of use that you'd find more useful or natural?

3 of 465 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Autocratic Admin? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Fragmentation of the file system is no issue in our times.
    Hard Disks are so big, you basically always have a big enough chunk to save a file.
    E.g. if you save a movie ... no modern OS is spreading that big file over lots of small groups of blocks.
    Open a big word document, save it again. You can basically bet that the file is saved in a new location on the hard disk and not on top of the old file. That is the reason why "restore lost files" tools work.

    angel'o'sphere

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  2. Re:Autocratic Admin? by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't suppose you've ever heard of something called VMS by any chance?

    /cry

    I miss it.

    But of course, you're talking about the naturally versioned file system.

    /MoreCry

    And TPU. And DCL. Lexical functions.

    me := f$WeepsHorriblyIntoCereal

    --
    Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
  3. Re:When they see that it is full by antdude · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I remember on my roommates' old PowerMacs with old Mac OS (not X), they had programs that showed how much was in the trash can, but with a liquid state. I would love to see that today in all OS' including Windows. Do they exist?

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).