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Ubuntu's Latest Interface "Brainstorm" - HUD

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zridling:
I just do not see *nix on a tablet, Android notwithstanding.-barney (February 02, 2012, 01:26 AM)
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That's like saying, "I just don't see Microsoft on the desktop, Windows notwithstanding." Android is Linux at its core.   ;)
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PS: HUD is just another interface attempt. Though I wish the Ubuntu people would create an experimental version of Ubuntu to test unneeded ideas on. (If it ain't broke....)

barney:
I just do not see *nix on a tablet, Android notwithstanding.-barney (February 02, 2012, 01:26 AM)
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That's like saying, "I just don't see Microsoft on the desktop, Windows notwithstanding." Android is Linux at its core.   ;)

-zridling (February 02, 2012, 09:34 AM)
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Which is why I made the exception statement.  *nix requires too much time at the command prompt to be comfortable on a tablet.  I can read a book on the Thrive, but it's hard to take notes.  I can <shudder /> interact on a social site - if it doesn't need much typing.  I can browse.  In large, I can consume across many venues  :D.  But creation is difficult at best  :o.  A simple email is tedious, an extended email is difficult.  Any other creative effort is well nigh impossible.  And HUD does nothing to alleviate that.  In general, a HUD is supposed to allow you to consume certain important data without significantly distracting you from the task at hand.  So it makes sense in vehicles, e.g., aircraft, automobiles (although successful implementation there seems a long way off).  And HUD as currently implemented works fine on PCs.  (Although we don't call it HUD  ;D, we call it pop-ups, alerts, alarms.)  But the implementation Mr. Mark seems to propose flies in the face of any such usage w/o providing any discernible benefit (at least, that I can see  :-\).

As far as tablet implementation, well . . .
*nix is a command-line oriented OS.  Windows/OSX are a bit more GUI oriented.  But there is no OS extant in the public arena that is touch oriented.  Until that is developed, tablets will be naught but high-tech book carriers and entertainment devices with middlin' communication capabilities.

Edvard:
And now it looks like Mark Shuttleworth is heading down the same road. And dragging Ubuntu along with him.
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Exactly why I quit Ubuntu  :-\

As far as tablet implementation, well . . .
*nix is a command-line oriented OS.  Windows/OSX are a bit more GUI oriented.  But there is no OS extant in the public arena that is touch oriented.  Until that is developed, tablets will be naught but high-tech book carriers and entertainment devices with middlin' communication capabilities.
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That's exactly what the Unity interface was supposed to do, dumb down the front-end to some big shiny buttons and slinky menus, so everything is accessible with a touch.
...but I'm afraid you're on the right track; Ubuntu (or any other Linux Distro, for that matter...) is still a desktop OS, whether command-line or button driven, and the HUD is still firmly in that world, as far as I can see.

Hence Android and iOS; They ARE touch-operated OSs.
Admittedly, they don't do much beyond work the phone and SMS (with the OSK, of course), store your contacts,  and play some touch-and-swipe games, while the pads remove the phone part and allow you to view  and interact with larger screenfuls of info.
Yes, there is more possible,  but what can you do with a touch-oriented interface beyond what it does already?

I agree, content creation beyond tactile art is never going to be practical on a touch interface... until somebody comes up with a programming language, or at the very least an IDE that is PURELY visual.
Imagine writing programs by connecting Reactable Tangibles that contain program objects instead of sound-generating elements.*

If Mr. Shuttleworth wants to make Ubuntu a pad OS, he's going to have to totally abandon the whole desktop gestalt (something I thought he was trying to do with Unity).
The HUD is so keyboard-centric, it makes me think he actually figured all this out, but I'm doubting...
* After doing some research, it is apparent these kinds of things have been around for a while:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programming_languages_by_category#Visual_languages
All the elements needed for touch-interface programming to be practical are there, but it's going to take the insane audacity of someone like Steve Jobs to make any of these into something slick and shiny and promoted ad nauseum to catch on.

CCpotter:
Bravo, this looks fabulous! Before watching this video i can't stop wondering what Windows 8 would like without a "start" button, now from this Ubuntu video, i got more expectation on Windows 8

40hz:
it's going to take the insane audacity of someone like Steve Jobs to make any of these into something slick and shiny and promoted ad nauseum to catch on.
-Edvard (February 12, 2012, 01:41 PM)
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Yes. And I think we're all beginning to get a very clear idea of where Mark Shuttleworth's ambition and ego are pointing him - to be the New Steve Jobs.

Great. Just what we need. Another meglomaniacal poseur - with entourage - in charge of an important tech company.

As I said earlier:

Do you begin to suspect where Mr. Shuttleworth is going with this now that the 'Son of Zeus,' Steven Jobs has quit this mortal clay? Apparently there's a perceived vacuum in the computing universe. And Mark Shuttleworth abhors that vacuum.

It seems Shuttleworth has come to realize just how effective "standing on the shoulders of giants" is as a career strategy for wannabe innovators...

Especially if you, like Steve Jobs, have a selective memory and absolutely no shame.  :-\

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