“Many Mac power users and developers are concerned about the iOS-ification of the Mac OS and how much more of that process will be found in sessions at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) next week in San Francisco. A recent developer blog post recalls talks by Steve Jobs from a 6 years ago, where he speculated on whether computer users really needed to interact with a file system. But to me, it also recalls a mostly forgotten Apple OS from around 20 years ago,” David Morgenstern writes for ZDNet. “In his blog, iOS developer Ole Begemann, tells of watching a 2005 video of Jobs speaking at the D: All Things Digital conference.”
In every user interface study we’ve ever done […], [we found] it’s pretty easy to learn how to use these things ‘til you hit the file system and then the learning curve goes vertical. So you ask yourself, why is the file system the face of the OS? Wouldn’t it be better if there was a better way to find stuff?
Now, e-mail, there’s always been a better way to find stuff. You don’t keep your e-mail on your file system, right? The app manages it. And that was the breakthrough, as an example, in iTunes. You don’t keep your music in the file system, that would be crazy. You keep it in this app that knows about music and knows how to find things in lots of different ways. Same with photos: we’ve got an app that knows all about photos. And these apps manage their own file storage. […]
And eventually, the file system management is just gonna be an app for pros and consumers aren’t gonna need to use it. – Apple CEO Steve Jobs, 2005
“Begemann said this sounds in many ways like iOS and its relation to users and data,” Morgenstern writes. “However, to my ears, it also sounds like the object-soup file approach that Apple used in the Newton OS, which was first released with the Newton MessagePad in 1993, almost 20 years ago.”
Much more in the full article here.
I’m not stupid. The OS File system is very easy to understand, to use, and to explain in a way that makes it easy for others to understand as well.
On the desktop, the lack of a “Save As” option in iWorks apps makes it HARDER for me to keep tabs on documents I create. And no, “Save A Version” is not the same thing. Without the ability to name the copy something useful that would differentiate it from it’s “previous version” cousins, I’m stuck reading the entire document to see what the differences are…. a waste of time.
With the exception of email, I never create content on my iPhone, so don’t see the need for a file system there.
Yes, just a better one.
iOS has a file system. It is not exposed to the user. File systems matter. Interaction with them and how easy it is to interact with them is the real issue. There is nothing intrinsically difficult in file management except fools who make you think it’s difficult to master.
Kleep file system or I am out of here. File system is more than folders and more than a place for geeks. It’s all about Apple control which = profit.
iOS needs a file system !! It drives me nuts on my iPad that I cant save a document into a common file area that all other apps can access. Is it really that difficult ? You don’t need to expose the WHOLE file system but FCOL a “user documents” folder and sub folders wouldn’t hurt, it would go a long way !
Its idiotic.. I sync a video to VLC, and want to play it in CineXplayer, I have to sync another copy into CineXplayer. Totally lame.
“Open In” is just a 1/2 ass excuse to get around this need,.
1: I like to browse my file system – how can I search for something I forgot I had? 2: I like to choose which disk my files reside on – my Macbook does not have enough storage space for anything like the amount of data I have, and I don’t want to lug around 4 external drives. 3: I do organise my mail into folders, and I would love to be able to place some of those folders on an external drive – my mail history is enormous and I need all of it.
Have you ever heard of GoodReader? It allows you to do a lot of the things that are being talking about on the iPad and iPhone. It isn’t perfect and there are still the problems of uploading photos to websites, etc. I have this problem, but of course the only answer is to use a photo web site to keep those pics for pulling into the web sites which are being manipulated. I think this is what they are purposely pushing us to do. It isn’t convenient or anything, but it is currently the only work-around available to those of us who have chosen to make the switch from desktop-based computing to iOS-based computing.
Also this “file-system thing” may begin to explain the reason Apple began pulling away from file servers. We are getting to the point where we are all not going to need them with the demise of the Filing system on iOS. Every time I begin to do my work on my iPad rather than on my desktop Mac, I have to stop and plan out how it is doable on the iPad. Once these methods are worked out in my head. I have found that the desktop is no longer needed with the exception of maintenance of the Apple server that I have to manage for my facility. With the use of two programs on the iPad, even illustrator can be thrown out for the work we do on Posters, Flyers, etc. Even the problem with different fonts in Pages can be gotten around using software such as Inkpad. We are all having to learn a new way of doing our computer work with iOS, so we must take a little more time and Think creatively.
Perhaps, “Think Different”.
When I moved away from Microsoft years ago, I vowed I would never again be locked into one OS platform. Right now, all my files and data are in cross-platform format. If Apple gets crazy, and tries to lock me in, I could move easily back to Windows.
I can’t understand the mentality of people who don’t use file systems.
e.g. if I’m organising my holiday, I want to store all the files in one folder, e.g. PDF’s of airline ticket bookings, Excel sheets with hotel info, MS Word docs of letters I write relating to the holiday. You get the drift. So how crazy would that be if all my files, for this particular holiday, are mixed into all my files on my computer. This is lunacy. Do people live like that? No way am I going to lock myself into Apple’s system. I need to keep my files ready to jump ship if Apple, in a few years time, loses the plot.
YES!