Comments | unless_spring: XO: forget about folders. Where are my FILES?

unless_spring

XO: forget about folders. Where are my FILES?

Jan 06, 2008 23:25

No, dear reader, I'm not done complaining. I saved the best for last.

XO has some even more fundamental problems... sorry, weirdnesses. Sorry, design features.

If you are computer-literate person, wouldn't you feel a bit embarrassed to ask where your files are? XO makes you stoop to new lows of embarrassment. ( Even if you are a Linux geek, you won't be able to find your files )

computers, technology, olpc, xo

Comments 2

Sounds like my first experiences with a macintosh random_stabs January 9 2008, 06:34:57 UTC

Back in 198x when the first Mac Plus came out, I sat down in front of one and inserted a floppy disk. The Mac recognized that it was an unformatted floppy and automatically formatted it for me. It got the name 'Untitled'.

I spent 3 hours looking for the "command" that would let me change the name to something else. Someone less computer-literate than I had to show me that I just hold the mouse over the name and suddenly (without any commands) the name was editable.

Just as I had to learn then, the lesson of the XO may be that one has to abandon *all* preconceptions in order to fully appreciate the new paradigm. Not saying this *is* the case in this instance, but it might explain why Nigerians and 9yo kids adapt to it much easier than adults. We expect more complexity, and have to "unlearn" more...

Re: Sounds like my first experiences with a macintosh unless_spring January 10 2008, 21:26:15 UTC

Just as I had to learn then, the lesson of the XO may be that one has to abandon *all* preconceptions in order to fully appreciate the new paradigm. Not saying this *is* the case in this instance, but it might explain why Nigerians and 9yo kids adapt to it much easier than adults. We expect more complexity, and have to "unlearn" more...This isn't so much about the complexity / simplicity of the interface. The XO interface is easy to learn and it has its merits, though inability to overlap windows and see multiple streams of information at once -- or rather, lack of windows to overlap -- is still a serious drawback, IMHO. This isn't the case where I would learn how to do it if I only abandoned my preconceptions. No, it is impossible on this laptop, period ( ... )