Oh in the end?* None of them.* I believe that the GUI Desktop
metaphor is coming close to the End Cycle.* I forsee the
replacement as something akin to - an immersive environment not
tied down to Documents, Files, Folders, phones, movies, TV,
cameras. I'm inspired by because of its expansive capability;
blocks as a basic unit of information but one that you can
manipulate and handle and use in any way you desire.* Its not
"it" but I think it points to a more natural way of interacting
with computers. The line will blur and disappear between video,
typing, voice, pictures, as I think it will be possible to
receive information in the format you most desire. I think the
emphasis will be on "views"; what you receive will be
customizable depending on your skill level so that there are no
barriers to communication. Someone who is 7 years old will
equally be able to customize their experience to their needs and
skill levels and primary mode of communication equally well as a
42 year old computer programmer, or a 22 year old game designer,
or a 70 year old grandparent. I imagine an iterative process of
exploration and discovery within the system; where some
intelligent programming will adapt the system in a general way
to your needs, without locking you into its decisions. Working
with computers will be less about function and more about form;
the immersive experience will allow you to project your wants
and needs into the system itself; the system won't have to do
the thinking for you beyond a general way, but instead you will
imprint YOURSELF into the system as you use it. Imagine blocks
that are easily programmable.* Look at the MIT project SCRATCH;
teaching kids ages 6+ the logic of programming by giving them
FULL POWER to create amazing games and utilities; they have the
power to take their ideas and make them into something; its
"extended Kindergarten" model of logical blocks helps them
understand the nature of processes, Right now, with current GUI,
there is a disconnect between the processes we desire and the
systems we have to use; a greater separation between the
underlying processes that govern a computer's functions with the
way we use it. But if you learn to truly understand what it is
that you want to accomplish; and there are STABLE STANDARDS to
work with, there's nothing you can't accomplish, from creation
to communication;* (rather than the ever changing "standards" of
today; and the layers of confusion added for corporate
protection; twitter blocking image downloads, youtube making it
more and more difficult to KEEP what we see; (which kids today
know how to get past easily enough - and they are the ones that
are going to program future systems). I know this sounds overly
vague; but it's hard to describe the picture I have in my mind
about "What is the future of GUI?"* That wasn't your question,
but it's what I'm answering. :P But I believe it is immersively
connecting your desires with a set of very basic but powerful
tools; 1) Create analogies (forms) 2) Add Connections between
analogies; 3) Use the channels you've created to flow from your
mind, through your body's preferred communication mode (vocal,
typing drawing, tactile, video, etc) - into immersive system, to
allow one analogy to become another analogy;
