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SWIPE_AND_WIPE

                                             December 7, 2017

Back in the early 'naughts I had the sense
that the ease-of-use fad was about tapped
out-- the pool of absolute beginners was
evaporating: we were on our way to a world        YOU_KNOW_TOO_MUCH
where we were all experts, and we would
need computer interfaces designed with that
in mind.
                                          
    Instead, the "smart phone" stupidifed      
    the masses and infected computer           
    interfaces as well.  We got the return     Beyond point-and-drool
    of the touch screen-- which had been       was swipe-and-wipe.
    tried and abandoned decades ago.  The      
    presumption everywhere was that that           TOUCH_ME_NOT
    *everything must merge*: your desktop      
    software should look *just like* your      
    phone software because nothing else        
    would be trend compliant.                  
                                               
    In a recent interview, Alan Kay           
    complained about mobile phones             Alan Kay invented
    encouraging passive consumption.           the "Dynabook" concept:
                                               the clear predecessor
    I agree, though the way I put it           of laptops and tablets.
    is that they're not useful for
    serious work.

    No one creates a mobile app using
    a mobile device: QED.



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