Re: Nautilus 2.6 - We're going all spatial

[Maciej Stachowiak <mjs noisehavoc org>]

On 15Sep2003 08:58PM (-0700), Seth Nickell wrote:
> 
> Spatial model (more typically called object model unless you are an Ars
> Technica writer ;-) says "here is an object".

Actually, "spatial" is the original term used to describe the original
Mac OS Finder, and is much more apt than "object" or "object
oriented". It is still the term of art at Apple (even though the Mac
OS X Finder does not provide this model by default, or very well at
all even with non-default settings).

The idea behind the term "spatial" is that this model presents folders
as having a particular size, location on the screen and unique
identity. This all enhances the sense that the file manager window
*is* the folder, rather than being a window viewing the folder, and
that the folders exist in space and have a relationship to each other.
This is the main conceptual advantage of the spatial metaphor.  The
little zooming animation when you open one folder from another (and
the zooming back when you close it, if the parent is still open)
further helps to establish this.

In the usual sense, "object oriented" refers to a programming
paradigm that provides some combination of encapsulation, bundling of
data structures and the operations on them, inheritance and
polymorphism. None of these concepts have any relevance in the HI
realm, nor are they an appropriate basis for a user model. 

I am not sure who first decided the spatial approach to a file manager
should be called "object oriented", but they should be gently
corrected and then shot.


Regards,

Maciej