lists can be quite interesting, but there's something developers don't understand: lists are a kind of space. file managers, for instance, always list files in alphabetical order. the list is treated not as space but as data. so, there's no way for a user to sort the list, and then keep it sorted. i mean, it you could have all your notes in one part of the list, and all your photos in another part of the list, and it would make a certain amount of sense. as an odd side note, treating lists as space would eliminate the need for unique file names.
if you really, really didn't want to implement a full representation of space as the default modality for computing, you could at least implement lists as space. computer would then say, when you start her up for the first time, would you like to put an item on this list? this screen i'm showing you is a list, with nothing on it. would you like to put something on it?
computer, i'm thinking a lot about how to develop this particular part of my garden. put that on the list for me.
then, at the top of the screen "computer, i'm thinking a lot about how to develop this particular part of my garden" would appear.
this, however, makes no sense. if i want to develop part of my garden, and i'm talking to a computer, the very first thing i want to do is model that part of my garden in some kind of virtual space. that's why i'm talking to a computer.
