> There is a reason people don't use Android on their desktop and laptop
computers.

Absolutely.  The fact is, for any of us who spend time thinking about
the tradeoffs of command-line vs GUI interfaces, one fact is amazingly
clear:  Interfaces must be designed around their inputs, not the other
way around.  If inputs are sufficiently different (touchscreen vs mouse
and keyboard), the interface will need to be different as a result.

Think about it this way.  From a commend line I can provide the computer
more information faster than I can from a GUI.  However, the computer
can give me more information faster from a GUI.  The inputs and outputs
are fundamentally different and so GUI's can never have the same degree
of functionality readily available that a CLI can (imagine using a GUI
to accomplish what the ftp command get foo.c ~/sources/foo/bar.c does),
but many things (surfing the web) are much better in a GUI even given
this tradeoff.   I am convinced systems with keyboards and mice are
fundamentally different from systems without them in similar ways.....

Wouldn't it be cool if we could have a very good, consistent interface
across tablets, smart-phones, laptops, and desktops?  Sure, but I think
this is impossible for reasons of mathematics.  From my perspective,
Gnome 2.3 is the best desktop UI ever developed.  Of course it would be
awkward on touchscreens.  Similarly Android and iOS are great
touchscreen interfaces but would be horrible to use with a mouse.  Apple
knows this.  Google knows this.  Even Microsoft knows this.  I have to
wonder why Linux UI developers seem to have abandoned all the great work
done so far to pursue such a pipe dream.

Watching the Windows 8 demos, I keep thinking that Microsoft has learned
the right lessons from us, and we (btw, not just Ubuntu, but also GNOME)
are learning the wrong lessons from them.

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/882274

Title:
  Community engagement is broken

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ayatana-design/+bug/882274/+subscriptions

-- 
ubuntu-bugs mailing list
ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs

Reply via email to