GUIs– Mediating the Experience

ATS 315

The Glass Teletype

Mac Did It Back Then, Too

Metaphors

• The move command “mv” is a metaphor—it makes it seem like a file is “moving”.

• mv a6.c /output

• Nothing is really “moving”—the file allocation table is just being changed…

Metaphors

• The file allocation table used to say that the file “a6.c” was in some directory and resided on the disk at some address.

• Now the table says that the file is at that same address but refers to some other directory.

Metaphors in Windows

• How do you move a file in Windows?

• Drag and Drop

• How it really works:– Communicates with the mouse– Fancy graphics on the screen– Triggers a “mv” command “behind the scenes”

Metaphors in Windows

• So there is a metaphor (icons, folders, etc.) separating you from another metaphor (mv) which separates you from the real work (changing the file allocation table).

Metaphors in Windows

• Control Panel

• The Recycling Bin

• The Pointer

• Mr. Paper Clip

• The Desktop

• And about a zillion more!

Why all the metaphors?

Why all the metaphors?

• They mediate the experience!

Apple Saw This In 1984

• Introduction of the Macintosh at the Super Bowl.

• Looks a LOT like current computers.

• Made computers something anyone could use.

Apple Saw This In 1984

• No command line at all!

• In you couldn’t do it with a mouse, you didn’t do it at all!

• A one-button mouse!

• A sealed case!

Apple’s Culture

• It took special tools to open the case.

• Opening the case voided the warranty.

• No command line = no hacking.

• Only Apple can build Macs.

• How Apple makes money.• Makes the computers very expensive.

Apple Family Album

Apple Family Album

Apple Family Album

Apple Family Album

Apple Family Album

Apple Family Album

Microsoft

• Went a different direction, selling the operating system, not the computer.

– WHY?

Microsoft

• Windows (before XP) was really just a beautiful DOS program.

• When Windows crashes, you just end up in DOS again.

Microsoft

• PC hardware was a free-market – other folks designed it, and competition made it cheap.

• Cheap = good, so Microsoft took over the world!

» Cheap also means ugly.

Ugly PCs

Ugly PCs

Ugly PCs

Ugly PCs

Ugly PCs

Ugly PCs

How Microsoft Makes Money

• By selling operating systems.

• Make more money selling imperfect software than they would selling perfect software!

– Why?

“Mac Vs. PC” Wars

• The battle was about aesthetics, technology, philosophy, etc.

• But the real difference that changed everything: the closed hardware of Mac and the open hardware of PCs

– Macs were expensive and exclusive and basically disappeared.

– PCs were cheap and cheaper all the time. They took over the world.

The Result of the War

• Apple: Addicted to selling hardware to small, captive markets.

• Microsoft: Addicted to selling operating systems to the whole world. No motivation to fix problems, make it beautiful, easy, etc. (Dinosaurs)

• Cheap hardware: fertile ground for Linux. (furry mice)