Killing the Desktop

When I observe how my wife and son uses the family computer, I can't help noticing how little use they have for the desktop. They look bewildered when I open the Windows Explorer. To them, file open or file save dialog *is* where the files go. My Documents? It's just an icon they never touch. The web is the little blue icon on the desktop that looks like a letter e. Email is another icon next to it. IM is the little person icon on the bottom right. Word is a W icon on the desktop. They don't even ask why only one click is needed for icons on the bottom right and double-click is needed for icons on the desktop. It just is. Software my wife uses are (in the order of usage): Internet Explorer (which they call Web) MSN Messenger (for chatting with friends) Outlook Word Software my son uses are very similar: Internet Explorer Word (for homework) Outlook Games Hmm. While I can see some new approaches to UI here that could be relevant to casual computer users, I am also sadden by the ...

16:12:24 December 6, 2005, Tuesday (PST) Source: Don Park's Daily Habit

Additional Info