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Posted by jsamlarose
Apr 12, 2022 at 03:26 PM
I’m not sure I understand the full thrust of the argument(s) here. Something like: iOS bad, macOS better, Windows and Linux best?
Just wanted to hoist my flag: I was a macOS stalwart until 2017, shortly after the release of the original 9.7” iPad Pro. That was around the time the iPad became the device I spent more of my time on. The balance has continued to skew in the direction of iPadOS since then, to the extent that I currently do about 95% of my computing on an iPad (I flip between a 12.9 and a Mini), with the occasional fallback to a 2016 MacBook (the most I’ve opened it this year is to update settings for a mechanical keyboard).
This is not to argue that iPadOS can be a productive platform for everyone. And lord knows I’m wary of ways I’ve read about the App Store being managed and the treatment that some developers have reportedly received that runs counter to innovation and counter to pushing the boundaries of what can be done on mobile devices. Nonetheless, iPadOS (and by extension, iOS) can be remarkably functional. I regularly get writing, project management, personal knowledge management and a host of other work done on my devices.
These devices may come with limitations and even encouraged or idealised patterns of use. Fortunately, that’s not the whole story.
Posted by MadaboutDana
Apr 13, 2022 at 09:45 AM
I think 22111’s divagations have raised an interesting point about user inertia. The simple truth is, the easier it is to use an operating system, the less technical awareness is required.
Long before we switched over to Macs, I found myself (as a Windows sysadmin!) advising Mac users on how best to use their machines, because they had no clue about even the most basic file management issues that even non-technical Windows users must swiftly learn to master (if only for survival purposes). This was fascinating – at the time, I didn’t even have a Mac, although I did eventually invest in one of those Bondi Blue numbers and became very fond of it.
The iPhone is, as 22111 rightly remarks, a system that requires very little technical awareness. Most users don’t even bother to run through and optimise the Settings app – that’s already too much trouble.
On the other hand, making the iPhone responsible for users’ enzombification (if I may be permitted the coinage) is a little unfair. Despite the iPhone’s huge success, Android is by far the more widely used OS (for very good reason: Android phones are vastly cheaper), and most users exchanging news, personal info, photos etc. are doing so from Android phones (admittedly influenced by the iPhone model).
Ironically, heavyweight influencers, who are often very savvy on a technical level, tend to use iPhones, because (a) social status and (b) very high-quality images/video (plus, I suggest, (c) ease of transfer to their macOS-powered devices where all the heavyweight Photoshopping is done).
While the whole issue of enzombification is a fascinating one, making Apple solely responsible for this trend is unfair. It would be more appropriate, perhaps, to lay the blame at the feet of the social media giants who have turned the Internet into their very own walled gardens. Now that, I feel, is the real issue we have to deal with, based on direct personal experience.
A close Gen-Y member of the family who is immensely media-savvy (with suitable marketing qualifications to boot) switches effortlessly between multiple social media apps on all of her (admittedly Apple) devices. No worries! Totally hip ‘n’ trending, dude!
But she doesn’t use Google. At all. In fact, has to be constantly reminded that Google (or any other Internet-wide search engine) is a really useful source of info.
I find this absolutely fascinating! Despite her wide trawls across social media, despite her regular support for others who want to get up to speed on social media, she has no real idea how to go about in-depth research using an online search engine. And little interest in doing so. Wow.
Does anybody else have that experience?
Cheers!
Bill
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Apr 13, 2022 at 05:43 PM
Bill,
I am glad to have you interpreting 22111’s savagely long posts.
All technology, as it advances, takes users away from the nuts and bolts. People used to tune their own cars. A long time ago, you had to signal your intent to turn right or left with a hand signal out the window. How many people still do that or even know that’s a thing?
I would guess that the actual number of people who are technically savvy with their devices hasn’t changed, or has gone up. But since so many (virtually all) people are using the technologies, the percent of those who are technically savvy has dropped dramatically.
I worked on DOS PCs for almost a decade. I knew some of the basic DOS commands because I needed to know them. Thank heavens I don’t need that knowledge anymore and couldn’t remember it now even if you stuck me in front of a DOS machine.
If people who use MacOS or iOS devices are less savvy about the technical aspects of their devices, I’d say that was a win for Apple.
Steve Z.
Posted by MadaboutDana
Apr 14, 2022 at 09:05 AM
Hey @Steve, I entirely agree about the growing gap between users and technology (my wife used to service her old Mini Cooper back in the day, to the extent of regularly winching the engine out of the vehicle to give it a good clean! We haven’t attempted that since opening the bonnet/hood of our Fiat Uno Turbo – and then hastily shutting it again).
On the other hand, it’s a philosophical issue, isn’t it? I mean, file management is (still) a fairly fundamental part of the UX, and what used to fascinate me is the number of Mac users who quite simply lost files on a regular basis. They were on the machine, but they couldn’t find them – nor had they the least idea how to go about finding them.
Discovering how Finder and Spotlight *really* work was a revelation for them! Modern macOS systems tend to automatically save documents to the “Documents” folder – but even then, there are a whole bunch of apps that automatically default to iCloud (not the easy-to-access user folders, the much less accessible CloudKit part), and good luck with finding anything in there (unless you’re familiar with Spotlight).
I predict the next major UX revolution will come with a complete revision of the file system. Indeed, Microsoft had something like that in mind for Windows 2000’s successor (based, I believe, on SQL Server), but they suddenly cancelled it at the last minute and nothing’s been heard of it since. A fully relational DBMS as the backend for a file system would be a fascinating thing, but maybe – even back then – they realised that even a relational DBMS is essentially limiting (remember, this was long before the advent of today’s non-SQL systems like MongoDB, so kudos to them!).
Once people really don’t need to know where files are, but can manipulate them effortlessly from wherever, computer OSes will have reached a new apogee! I’m afraid I don’t regard the iOS/iPadOS walled garden approach (whereby each app has its own group of files) as an adequate solution – the fact that the Files app was greeted with such enthusiasm/relief suggests that Apple users don’t, either.
Just a morning ramble, sorry about that!
Cheers,
Bill
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Apr 14, 2022 at 12:47 PM
Bill,
I definitely bow to your greater technical experience (written without an ounce of sarcasm), and no need to apologize for an engaging ramble!
Steve
MadaboutDana wrote:
Hey @Steve, I entirely agree about the growing gap between users and
>technology (my wife used to service her old Mini Cooper back in the day,
>to the extent of regularly winching the engine out of the vehicle to
>give it a good clean! We haven’t attempted that since opening the
>bonnet/hood of our Fiat Uno Turbo – and then hastily shutting
>it again).
>
>On the other hand, it’s a philosophical issue, isn’t it? I mean, file
>management is (still) a fairly fundamental part of the UX, and what used
>to fascinate me is the number of Mac users who quite simply lost files
>on a regular basis. They were on the machine, but they couldn’t find
>them – nor had they the least idea how to go about finding them.
>
>Discovering how Finder and Spotlight *really* work was a revelation for
>them! Modern macOS systems tend to automatically save documents to the
>“Documents” folder – but even then, there are a whole bunch of
>apps that automatically default to iCloud (not the easy-to-access user
>folders, the much less accessible CloudKit part), and good luck with
>finding anything in there (unless you’re familiar with Spotlight).
>
>I predict the next major UX revolution will come with a complete
>revision of the file system. Indeed, Microsoft had something like that
>in mind for Windows 2000’s successor (based, I believe, on SQL Server),
>but they suddenly cancelled it at the last minute and nothing’s been
>heard of it since. A fully relational DBMS as the backend for a file
>system would be a fascinating thing, but maybe – even back then
>– they realised that even a relational DBMS is essentially
>limiting (remember, this was long before the advent of today’s non-SQL
>systems like MongoDB, so kudos to them!).
>
>Once people really don’t need to know where files are, but can
>manipulate them effortlessly from wherever, computer OSes will have
>reached a new apogee! I’m afraid I don’t regard the iOS/iPadOS walled
>garden approach (whereby each app has its own group of files) as an
>adequate solution – the fact that the Files app was greeted with
>such enthusiasm/relief suggests that Apple users don’t, either.
>
>Just a morning ramble, sorry about that!
>Cheers,
>Bill