10/GUI Doesn’t Reinvent Desktop Human-computer Interaction

There has been some buzz around R. Clayton Miller’s 10/GUI - a proposal to reinvent desktop human-computer interaction. The 10/GUI concept video is very slick and a lot of the ideas make sense.

About halfway through the video I realized why Miller’s concept isn’t revolutionary or very inventive. Most of the “revolutionary” user interface ideas in 10/GUI are really Apple interface ideas or technologies.

Pinching and zooming? That isn’t new. We’ve had this on the iPhone for a couple of years now!

Using your hand to touch a screen or a pad instead of using a mouse? Apple’s laptops have been using Multi-Touch trackpads for quite some time. It’s not a stretch to think that Apple will come out with a larger version that can accommodate two handed gestures as Miller suggests.

Did I mention that 10/GUI looks like a larger version of the iPhone OS with a few embellishments? The process of switching programs in 10/GUI is almost identical to sliding from one app screen to another on your iPhone. Hardly innovative.

R. Clayton Miller made a really slick 10/GUI video but I don’t find it to be very inventive or revolutionary. Apple has been slowly integrating touch technologies into its products and software for several years. Rumours about an Apple Touch Pad computer abound.

If any one company is going to reinvent the desktop it would be Apple.

Posted in Technology at 4:19 PM