Re: [tlug] Beyond the mouse and keyboard

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

Matthew writes:

 > Nothing will change. We need to dump the PUI. As long as computing
 > is concerned merely with the simulation of paper, things will suck.

FVO "suck" == not be entertaining.  For serious largescale work, which
is where the kind of value-added that allows us to afford these toys
is produced, the simulation of paper will not go away in our
lifetimes.  Sorry.

Such work requires cooperation of many workers.  Cooperation requires
communication, not just of facts (where "sometimes" a picture is worth
a thousand words) but of ideas ... which consist of abstract symbols,
which are mapped to words in communication.  It's possible, of course,
that pictures are worth more than verbal words, but interestingly
enough for the experienced knowledge worker it is often very useful to
show her a picture once, then talk about it in words, and refer to it
by words.  (Anyway, pictures are also visual/paper-based.)

It's unlikely that tactile, aural (nonverbal), or olefactory
communication will ever be able to replace this kind of communication.