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

Posted by timothy on Saturday February 26, 2011 @06:00AM 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?

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Re:Autocratic Admin? by uglyduckling · 2011-02-26 06:37 · Score: -1, Redundant

You mean, like Time Machine? It occurred to me recently that the Trash Can on my Mac is basically pointless, because except for files that I've only had on the drive for less than a couple of minutes, there's always a copy in Time Machine.