From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu Subject: Re: [9fans] architectures From: "rob pike" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-Id: <20010712124320.BB306199C0@mail.cse.psu.edu> Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 08:43:18 -0400 Topicbox-Message-UUID: c74942b2-eac9-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025 > contrary to Tog's advice on this point: with care i suspect > you can make abstractions simple and effective enough without insisting on > drawing a tenuous likeness to something in the `real world'. This is a very deep point. One of the greatest mistakes (or missed opportunities, or strokes of genius, depending on how you look at it) of the familiar modern computer interface is the attempt to tie it to real-world objects. Trash cans, desktops, paper clips: come on! The power of computation lies in its being abstract, and the drive should be to find ways of working that are not mere echoes of traditional methods. -rob