The Need for "Single Window Mode" 3238

ZnU

Computer interfaces are fundamentally virtual things. The laws of physics do not apply in a virtual environment, and therefore more abstract notions of task management and merging are very possible. Thinking of applications as pieces of paper on a desktop is a very limiting concept, even if it is easy to grasp. I cannot duplicate or dismiss a piece of paper with almost no effort, for example. I cannot maintain contextual links between information in the physical world--there are no magic strings I can attach between words on paper to relate their meaning to one another. I cannot simply press a button in real life, and have my desktop instantly clear itself of all material--nor can I return it to its previous state with just as trivial an effort.

Another issue is that the physical world is three dimensional, whereas computer interfaces are 2d with a pseudo third dimension in the form of window placement along the z-axis. Furthermore, there is no friction in a virtual environment. I can slide one piece of 'paper' across another without disturbing the bottom sheet--something you can't do in real life. Additionally, it means that working with 'stacks' of paper becomes very difficult. It requires a lot more time and effort to move to the 'next page' in a virtual interface than it does in real life. I cannot simply lift the topmost sheet to look at the bottom, then drop it back in a virtual environment... but I can in a physical one.

To accurately describe using physical desktop metaphors in a virtual environment, one would need to be able to describe an office worker in 'god mode'. They would have to be able to instantly teleport themselves anywhere, instantly make connections between objects, instantly make objects appear and disappear, rewrite the laws of physics on the fly, and cause things to move all on their own. Hell, with backups, this office worker would also have to be able to pull objects out of the past in order to make up for errors. If we were all able to do this sort of thing, do you think we would still be arranging papers on a desk?

Yes, it does, simply because non-spatial task management is so very bad. It's not that 2d spatial desktop metaphors are *good*, just that the only currently workable alternative is worse.