I'm glad someone has seen it - I have not been able to get on the website at all. But I agree with the distinction made here between OS and the desktop metaphor. I read the article as not really discussing the eventual demise of the actual operating system but rather as presenting a different metaphor for both file structure and user interface.
The problem with his description (and without seeing his software, that's all I have to go on) is that it doesn't sound like a very good match to how people actually think of their files and how they expect the files to be organized. Maybe we are all too blinded by the simplicity of the desktop metaphor, but I don't believe the average computer user is ready for stream-of-consciousness computing either. "Emulating piles of paper" doesn't appeal to me as a replacement for the desktop metaphor. Requiring multiple search criteria to locate a file versus knowing where in a hierarchical structure the file is stored? Maybe for some kinds of computing needs, but certainly not all.
I'd be very interested in seeing alternatives to the desktop. Maybe when his site is working again there will be something truly innovative there.
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I'm glad someone has seen it - I have not been able to get on the website at all. But I agree with the distinction made here between OS and the desktop metaphor. I read the article as not really discussing the eventual demise of the actual operating system but rather as presenting a different metaphor for both file structure and user interface.
The problem with his description (and without seeing his software, that's all I have to go on) is that it doesn't sound like a very good match to how people actually think of their files and how they expect the files to be organized. Maybe we are all too blinded by the simplicity of the desktop metaphor, but I don't believe the average computer user is ready for stream-of-consciousness computing either. "Emulating piles of paper" doesn't appeal to me as a replacement for the desktop metaphor. Requiring multiple search criteria to locate a file versus knowing where in a hierarchical structure the file is stored? Maybe for some kinds of computing needs, but certainly not all.
I'd be very interested in seeing alternatives to the desktop. Maybe when his site is working again there will be something truly innovative there.