Another view on file dialogs.

[Dylan Griffiths <Dylan_G bigfoot com>]

        Just in case I've not caused enough of stir, where's another way
entirely that obsoletes (or at least, greatly reduces the need for) file
dialogs.   That is, the environment where you are always working with the
DATA, not with the programs.
        Example: excepting games and other programs you "use," have a
common "New file" dialog which lets you pick the type and then loads the
appropriate program for you (talk about ease of use!), or an "Open file"
dialog which indexes your data with meta-info (added user notes, etc) to
allow easier finding (rather than always resorting to the hierarchical
directory tree).  Way more docu-centric, and where Win95 seemed to be
heading (before MS decided that we needed to be "web centric" for some
unknown reason).
        People don't think about the tools, just the job.  Why force them
to think of the tools?  Why force them to LOAD hammer, then open
/toolbox/nailbox/nail_file and get_a_nail -one -now, and then
perform_hammering --with=nail --force=7?  Why can't we have the interface
equivalent of, "I'm going to be putting a picture on the wall, give me a
hammer and a nail so I can work" ?

	Having a central place that lets people work with documents, and which has
meta-data search capabilties -- that would be revolutionary.  And it
shouldn't be too hard, either, as all we do is add a small applet and some
code for dealing with the meta data.  From there, we just add hooks to the
various file dialogs.  We could make the entire user experience working with
data to get a job done, instead of making a program perform an action in
order to get things done.

	Think about it.

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