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Bill Brown

A complicated man.

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John Siracusa is at it again, this time leveling his sights on the Mac OS X Finder. This article, which I’ve just started, is just as thorough and thoughtful as any he’s written for Ars Technica. I’ll probably update this entry with my thoughts on his thoughts later today. In the meantime, you should read it.

[UPDATE 4/3/03] I didn’t get a chance to post my thoughts yesterday, mostly because it took me most of yesterday to slog through the entire article. It was entirely worth it as I expected and I am now more of a Siracusa fan than I was before. I disagree with him on several points, but his arguments are presented exceptionally well.

Where I agree: live search folders, the shelf, the Finder qua browser

Where I disagree: inviolable spatiality, Finder plug-ins

Some might think that the article is much ado about nothing and will never see the light of day, but I think that the piece is geared towards advancing HCI thought. I particularly liked Siracusa’s point that humans are adept at handling physical clutter but awful at dealing with mental clutter. That is a pregnant thought for my own interface and interaction work.