"Spatial" mode?

[Kent Frazier]

On Wed, 15 Dec 2004 21:17:00 +0000, Ian Malone <ibm21 at cam.ac.uk> wrote:
> Romeyn Prescott wrote:
> 
> >
> > At 12:28 PM -0500 12/15/04, msimplay scribbled:
> >
> >>hate spatial mode it mode
> >>i don't see the logic in not having an address bar
> >>and yes none of those articles are very convincing
> >>Besides i thought Gnome was supposed to make it simple for users
> >>spatial is something that goes in the opposite direction of simple and
> >>its something you have to get used to but i rather not
> >>i would have prefered if they added tabs like with Konqueror
> >
> >
> 
> I'm not particularly convinced by the argument for spatial, it runs
> along the lines, "We have a story for this, let's keep it."
> 
> >
> > You only have to "get used to" something if you're already used to
> > something else!!  The original article at arstechnica made some
> 
> I'm not overly fond of picking at people's words, but I can't help
> but mention that you _do_ have to get used to something even if
> you haven't used 'something else'.  You mention shortly that you
> have had to explain to people new to computers how they work.
> If their lack of exposure to previous UIs meant they didn't have
> to get used to a new one then we could hit them with anything and
> they would instantly understand it.  As it is, continually changing
> the UI means that in addition to new users learning it, existing
> users have to re-learn it. (And as a consequence, are less able to
> help new users.)
> 
> > interesting observations noting that "spatial mode" more closely
> > mimics "Real Life" use of desktops, files (pieces of paper) and
> > folders and is that to which most people can most easily relate.  If
> > you were weened on the CLI and were never used to seeing where you've
> > been or where you're going, then getting used to ANYTHING "different"
> > is going to be painful.
> >
> 
> Actually, with the CLI you generally have to remember where you are
> in the file system.  In spatial you have to remember where a folder is.
> In a navigator you have the location on the screen next to the
> resource you're looking at.  I find that visual hint useful
> 
> > As a consultant on the side, I work with a LOT of people who finally
> > decided to take the plunge and get a computer.  Over the years I have
> > found that the very best thing to explain the vagaries of a
> > computer's OS and its presentation are to draw, whenever possible,
> > upon real-world analogies to things with which people are already
> > familiar.  Following that, I would have a hard time explaining why a
> > folder disappears when you open it, because that doesn't happen in
> > Real Life.  If I remove a hanging folder from a file cabinet and open
> > it and it contains a manila folder and I open THAT, I can still see
> > the hanging folder behind it.  It doesn't vanish in a puff of smoke!
> >
> 
> Analogies are two a penny.  Since you can't get change from a penny:
> 
> I have a drawer in my desk.  I open the drawer.  I no longer see the
> drawer.  Why?  It's still there, but now I'm looking in it; not
> standing at the other side of the room looking at the drawer and trying
> to see its contents (although I could be, but I find this more useful).
> I take out a book and open it.  I'm not trying to see the desk the
> drawer and the book, and the page, I'm trying to read the book, so I see
> the page.  Spatial is a little like lifting out the drawer, setting it
> on my desk, taking out the book, opening it, and setting it next to the
> drawer.  It hasn't done anything very different, except unnecessarily
> reproduced real world clutter.
> 
> > Now maybe there are those OCD types whose Real-Life desktops are just
> > as clean as their virtual ones...the kind of person who realizes that
> > he's not USING the hanging folder at the moment and takes the time to
> > return it to the cabinet immediately lest it clutter his desk.  But I
> > think those types are few and far between!
> >
> 
> If my computer kept my desk clean for me I would be happy.  It can
> help keep my screen clean though.
> 
> --
> imalone

Very well written.  I agree wholeheartedly.  If I was presented with
evidence that new users found it easier, I would be more compelled to
tolerate it (until I change it to Browser bahavior, of course.) 
However, all I ever hear people say in favor of it is the drawer
analogy, which I do not find compelling.

Why must a computer work like a drawer anyway?  I have heard several
explanations, but I still find Browser mode easier to navigate and
more intuitive.  Admittedly, I have used Windows for years, but I was
very happy when I found that I could change Win95's default
multi-window behavior, because it made Explorer much more comfortable
to use.  Both Microsoft and Apple used to use a multi-window approach,
and both now use a browser-style approach.  There is a reason for
this: the users liked the latter better.  The user will have to learn
the browser-style method anyway because this is how the internet is
organized.  Why shouldn't this knowledge also be applicable to their
local files?

That said, I am glad Gnome offers the spatial option for those who
prefer it.  I fully support them in using that mode if they like it. 
I wish the setting to change the behavior were a little more obvious
though.  When I first started using Debian (which was also the first
time I used Gnome for any period of time) I had to search around for
quite a while before I realized that 'Always open in browser windows'
was the option I wanted.  I did not find this to be very
self-explanatory.  If I remember correctly, the option in Win9x was
something like 'Open new windows in the same window' and had a
corresponding opposite option listed as well, rather than just a check
box.  With that, I knew what was going to happen.

Kent