[Design] Re: paper clip - linked files - feature request]

[Gary Yuen]

If the question is how does data, or any object, relate to other 
objects, perhaps the better approach is to not examine folders, 
desktops, paper clips, or hyperlinks but instead to think about what 
was it we were trying to represent by these concepts.  Instead of 
thinking how can we use hyperlinks, let's think about what is the 
purpose of a hyperlink.

Current document management systems or even older forms of data 
management systems like the Be file system use metadata to create 
relationships.  Perhaps better than a hiearchy of folders and labels, 
objects start to contain data that describes itself and thus describe 
its relationship to other pieces of data.

If I were looking at a calendar event of a party or event way back when 
and were to say I'd like to look at the pictures I saved long ago from 
that event or look up person, how would the system understand such 
relationships?  Maybe through some use and analysis of how and when I 
retrieve data.  If I happen to use a particular document or word 
template around this time of the month to write a bill and I'm also 
looking at a task in my task list, could Chandler understand what data 
I am trying to retrieve?  If I'm looking at a contact and wish to 
easily look at all emails I've sent to this person or emails relating 
to something I'm working on with this person, how would we represent 
such relationships?

Was it the inventor of hypercard that said everything is related to 
everything else?  could through the study and memory of when we create, 
save, or retrieve data in itself create relationship hiearchies that we 
currently miss through our continued use of folders or desktops? Maybe 
like the sign that semioticians like to say has become arbitary and is 
only defined not by what it means, but by what it does not mean, by 
it's difference with other objects within a sign system, we can start 
to properly relate files or other pieces of data within a system. What 
does this word rose mean? It's been used to mean so many things, maybe 
it no longer means anything at all.  Why did we invent icons?  As signs 
to some signification.  Yet we can recall memories or experiences 
through many cues, even through an ellipsis, an incomplete grammatical 
statement.

If I am in photoshop working on a particular file and my calendar 
contains due dates for a web page I need to soon finish, could Chandler 
become an intermediary or system service that re-organizes and places 
data I will probbably need or retrieve so if I lookup a person I need 
to call to ask a related question, or am looking for a graphic file, it 
will know what I am looking for?

However we visually represent such things is a different matter, but 
maybe after some difficult work in figuring out and furthering our 
understanding of what is data, we'll soon see how everything relates to 
everything else. I think much of this understand will come, not from 
understanding folders, or any other metaphor we've invented to 
represent collections of information, but from understanding ourselves, 
our memories, and how we think and organize.

Gary

Am Donnerstag, 26.12.02 um 12:20 Uhr schrieb David Neeley:

> Surely we could get a better metaphor than a reminder of "Clippy"?!
>
> One method might be to have a selection of workspaces or "desktops" 
> with the various documents both within and outside of Chandler 
> arranged on the desktop in whatever order makes sense for you. Then, 
> switching between desktops could be done as many programs manage 
> it--with each desktop assigned by you to a particular activity or 
> project. Further, you might be able to assign different colors, 
> perhaps, for the background of a particular workspace, to give you 
> immediate visual stimulous about the subject or nature of that 
> particular one.
>
> That way, you could have various "piles" of documents--something like 
> the Paperport software has done for years for image files and those 
> document files it understands--on each desktop workspace. Thus, you 
> may choose a workspace for a particular project you must manage, with 
> one pile being for physical resources, another for personnel 
> resources, another a Gantt or Pert chart, etc.
>
> Similarly, you might have a colored "flag"--perhaps a border around 
> the desktop icon that would indicate by color when something needs 
> tending to in that project workspace. For example, an answer to an 
> email you have sent regarding that project could trigger an alarm that 
> you would see by glancing at the workspace icon when you were using 
> another workspace.
>
> Think of the present UNIX or Linux multiple desktops, with small icons 
> at the bottom of the screen showing representations of the full-size 
> desktops. These could be set to line up with right- and left-arrows 
> when they take more space than allotted...but with those who have some 
> trigger activated being brought into view automagically...
>
> At any rate, I believe this might be a worthwhile method of handling 
> multiple interests and responsibilities that could tie 
> Chandler-managed documents of various kinds together topically. Less 
> active topics could still be put in folders, leaving the various 
> individual workspaces for active projects.
>
> I also believe that folders should be able to carry specific 
> information accessible by a right-click...perhaps the "owner" of the 
> folder, its creation date, subjects meant to be contained therein, 
> etc. This kind of metadata could be easily searchable and allow very 
> rapid classification compared to other schemes--while being easy for 
> users to understand. When the metadata is present, I suggest another 
> icon for the folder when viewed from within Chandler...one with a text 
> representation on the icon itself, perhaps?
>
> David
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> On Wednesday, Dec 25, 2002, at 11:42 US/Pacific, Kevin Cullis wrote:
>
>>> There could be a "paper clip" file which is a link to other Office
>>> files.
>>> When you open the paperclip, it opens a window with tabs for each
>>> other
>>> file, stacked in the order you choose. This would be exactly like
>>> having a
>>> stack of real documents paperclipped together.
>
> Yes, this a good concept. Apple experimented with something similar
> 5-10 years ago, they called it '
> 'piles' (or was it stacks?), and it was like these collections of
> papers piled up. The actual documents could be from various other
> sources, but the collection together was the stack to work on for the
> project. Hypercard to some degree had this metaphor, as well.
>
> Now, folders are somewhat related in case you do aliases so that a
> folder actually has pointers to various real files (wish the alias
> support would finally be fixed in MacOSX Finder).
>
> Anyway, in case the underlying architecture has enough flexibility to
> provide the raw data, then various UI interfaces could be experimented
> out. As usually it's up to the end users in case they like it, or
> detest it (style clippy). Sometimes a live metaphor succeeds, sometimes
> it backfires big time.
>
> --Kent
>
>
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