Time to ditch the Mac’s Finder and Desktop?

Apple Store“Jef Raskin was a human-computer interface expert. He died a few years ago. Raskin is best known for his work on the original Mac back in the late 1970s and early 1980s,” Ron McElfresh reports for Mac 360.

“Much of the Mac’s Desktop and Finder metaphor came from Raskin,” McElfresh reports. “That was then. This is now. The way we manage files, apps, and interact with our Mac hasn’t changed much since Raskin’s Mac efforts went public in 1984.”

McElfresh reports, “It’s still a Desktop and Finder world. What’s the next great thing? Maybe it’s touch. But not touch in the way we use our iPhones. Touch in the way we use a Mac. Only different. Better? Maybe.”

“‘Raskin’ is a Finder replacement which changes the way we interact with our Macs. Finder? Desktop? Goodbye. And, with the right equipment attached to your Mac, [interaction that’s] perhaps easier, perhaps better, certainly different.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Note: A free 30-day trial of Raskin in available here.

92 Comments

  1. I’d loike to see this approach demonstrated on a designer’s machine, where there can be literally hundreds of visually similar layouts for a company or product. Without some sort of structure — or an intelligent computer that “knows” what you’re looking for — a pure visual interface simply falls flat…

  2. I’d loike to see this approach demonstrated on a designer’s machine, where there can be literally hundreds of visually similar layouts for a company or product. Without some sort of structure — or an intelligent computer that “knows” what you’re looking for — a pure visual interface simply falls flat…

  3. When iOS grows to become the next desktop operating system (and this will happen very soon, sooner then you think), I have no doubt that there will appear some scripting language similar to AppleScript that will allow those few power users who need such a thing to automate some processes. It may be Apple’s own offering, or some third-party initiative, but if there is a need, somebody will eventually fill it.

  4. When iOS grows to become the next desktop operating system (and this will happen very soon, sooner then you think), I have no doubt that there will appear some scripting language similar to AppleScript that will allow those few power users who need such a thing to automate some processes. It may be Apple’s own offering, or some third-party initiative, but if there is a need, somebody will eventually fill it.

  5. I remember a few years ago when the big news was Spotlight was going to replace the Finder.

    Because finding one file in a list of thousands is exactly what I had hoped for in a Finder replacement.

  6. I remember a few years ago when the big news was Spotlight was going to replace the Finder.

    Because finding one file in a list of thousands is exactly what I had hoped for in a Finder replacement.

  7. @finder blows
    actually finder is the second best part of the mac experience (next to osa of course) i’v never had it hang because a network volume went offline and infact finder is what convinced me MacOS is better then linux.

  8. @finder blows
    actually finder is the second best part of the mac experience (next to osa of course) i’v never had it hang because a network volume went offline and infact finder is what convinced me MacOS is better then linux.

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