Jon,
> But this doesn't change the fact that the Newton OS is a pen-based system,
> and doesn't adapt well to the keyboard, and I can't imagine using a mouse
> with it. I prefer the freedom of the pen.
I would agree about the pen, faster and more expressive than other input
systems and I use a tablet with my PowerBook for everything.
I disagree about about using NOS with a keyboard however, the eMate I use
every day works really well and could be further refined in this area and
use any input means - I can't see the problem here.
> I don't know how well the soup model would translate to the desktop. I
> really prefer the file-based system on my desktop, but prefer the soup
> structure on my Newton.
Files are an abomination. I would much prefer database models for storing
information of any kind, it allows for so much more richness and
connections. As was pointed out to me recently, a conventional file system
is just about the most rudimentary table of attributes that you could
associate with your data but nevertheless Apple are dumbing down their file
system to make it more compatible with Windows and Linux - a completely
unnecessary capitulation.
The world is moving to databases and similar structures such as XML for all
significant repositiories of information - rightly so.
> Aaaaaahhhh! Please, not OpenDoc again! I struggled with that, trying to make
> it work, even years after Apple gave up on it (I used Cyberdog and Wav
> almost exclusively!) before I finally realized the truth that
> document-centric is not the answer to our problems.
Don't be constrained in your thinking by one iteration of the concept which
you didn't like - it was a prototype remember. There are many ways to break
out of encapsulating functionality in one rigid box like an application.
The technical limits you experienced are gone and I bet that if you were to
total the amount of software you were using under OpenDoc it wouldn't add up
to one Microsoft application now. Look at the size of a 'modern' OS - they
are titanic constructs and the CPU spends much more time running the OS than
it does your task to the point where they struggle to sustain the illusion
on anything but the fastest HW.
Compartmentalising functionality and data in applications limits what you
can do and gives control of your environment to a single application
developer. This suits them fine of course and their power now extends to
making operating systems fit them instead of us. Most of them don't deserve
it.
Let yourself think outside the box and not be distracted by what currently
exists, it's only a tiny and limited expression of what is possible.
Joel.
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