On 30/11/2011 8:56 PM, Char Jackson wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:03:17 -0500, Wolf K<>
> wrote:
>
>> On 30/11/2011 6:48 PM, John Ferrell wrote:
>>> I think The Library part will be better if& when I can predict what
>>> it does reliably.
>>
>> The "libraries" are the default dumps for data. IMO they are less than
>> worthless, but they will persist as long as developers are willing to
>> accept MS's API defaults.
>>
>> To have a single humongous pile of pictures (for example) is crazy. So
>> far this year I've taken over 3,000 pictures. Last year we went on a
>> three-day excursion to see Chihuly's glass sculptures in Grand Rapids
>> and came home with over 1,000 images each. Copying pictures into a
>> folder tree organised by category, date, and subject has enabled me to
>> find anything I want in 30 seconds or less, and that without having to
>> spend time tagging each picture. "Tagging" is IME one of those
>> "practical" ideas that are considerably less than practical when you
>> actually use them. Like folding kayaks: My dad bought one of those. It
>> was in the water exactly twice, and he had a waterfront property.
>
> In my limited experience, Libraries don't work the way you suggest.
No, but people do. ;-0
> For me, if a folder containing subfolders is added to a Library, then
> the Library will retain the existing folder structure, meaning the
> parent and its subfolders. It doesn't just dump all of the contents
> into a single folder.
Your comment assumes that someone has already created folders or folder
trees. But what incentive do they have for doing so? Many (most, IME)
applications just dump stuff into the library (some do create a folder
first, but IME that's the exception).
I'm aware that subfolders can be created in or moved to the libraries.
My point is that there is no, um, nudge to do so. The result is that
people "lose" their data. Many people have a pile of data in their
libraries, and have a heck of a time finding what they want. Really.
I've seen it happen.
For example, if libraries were programmed to create a new subfolder
every time someone connected their camera to the computer, with a
request to approve or change the folder name, or direct the data
transfer to another folder, that would, eventually, lead to something
resembling a folder tree whose names would help people find what they're
looking for, and better yet, remind them of what they have.
You can give people all kinds of advice, but if the system doesn't offer
or require choices, the advice is unlikely to be acted on. A
well-designed system will guide people to make the best choices for
using the system. The more flexible a system is, the more difficult it
becomes to design the interface and interactions so that people will
make better choices, but it's not impossible.
HTH
Wolf K.
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