Re: [Usability] Re: Save Icon

[Alexey Rusakov <ktirf users sf net>]

Diego Moya wrote:
> But is it open/save really a duality, for anyone other than a
> programmer? You're probably thinking of the read/write access to files
> - but that is an input/output metaphor, not one of document
> processing.
>
> For an end user, Open is "begin to work", while Save is a compulsive
> "please please protect my document so that a system crash won't ruin
> all my hard work". The actual opposite to Open is of course Close, as
> in "finish my work".
This is close to what Jef Raskin proposes in his "Humane Interface" 
book. The idea is that instead of Open/Save there should be exactly one 
button (he names it "Disk", IIRC), that does all the work. If the 
document is newer on disk and not changed in the memory, it loads the 
document. If it is changed in the memory (i.e. it is newer that a copy 
on disk), this button performs "Save". Well, and if there is a conflict, 
the button reveals it, and lets the user decide. I think this idea is 
quite promising.

--
 Alexey "Ktirf" Rusakov