an analog software picker?

(and now for something completely different. . .)


I don't know what the etiquette over suggestions for bits and pieces is.
Please forgive if I'm doing something I ought to know better than to do.

Analog has its uses:

I sometimes wonder (started in my Anthropological linguistics class when
we were talking about how available technology can influence, or even
turn around, a particular language group) what we would be doing now if
the analog instead of the digital computer had taken off.

There still are some analogs out there--they are particularly powerful
for dealing with sound-based stuff because of the ease of manipulating
both amplitude and frequency, etc.--but they are rare.

Digital certainly pushes us toward some things, but it also tends to
mush stuff together (or to un-glob stuff) in ways that might not always
be helpful.

So how about an analog software picker?

For text-based apps, you certainly could start with a basic very light
and very nimble text editor. Perhaps then another text editor with a
richer tools base. Then maybe an in-between program like Works or Write,
then a full-featured like Word, Word Perfect, etc., and there are many
more highly configurable and specific writing task based apps. such as
script writing (for theater and motion pictures-sorts of scripts),
academic writing, etc.

Then we have a large number of degrees of difference so that a Winword
with most of the heavy features cleared off the menus might precede the
"standard" version, and perhaps an extension-enhanced version might fit
in above that.

 All the serious writers I have seen at the computer (or typewriter,
bless 'em!) have a very specific set of commands they want available and
no more. (Otherwise, just too much screen clutter). Ideally different
configurations for different stages/tasks.

What if we were to show a ribbon, sometimes unified, sometimes diverging
into different strands, which goes from the most basic "Hello" sort of
note app to the most complex tool? We certainly could have marks along
the way, but instead of thinking in terms of discrete packages, what if
we were to think of a spectrum of tools?

I would guess a similar process could work for some graphic artists, as
well. I imagine the thread for programmers would have a different set of
tools than I would want. (This became clear when I went looking for a
clean text editor).

Now consider that the current divisions into our "classes" of software
are entirely arbitrary and in some cases, simply capricious. We would
all be spared a considerable amount of pain if we didn't have to sit
through PowerPoint presentations by either those who love words (and are
graphically stunted) or those who do graphic presentation well but sort
of lose the verbal cohesion.

PowerPoint isn't a separate sort of application--it is a bridge,
bringing several strands together. That could be shown with some ribbons.

Some apps might transcend (or undergird) the word/image divide. Isn't it
possible these might represent the ribbon flowing from one extreme on
one hand, to a primitive on another? I think of various evaluation and
collaboration packages.

Here's my visual "maybe" (Wendy, don't hate me for this attempt away
from words, please!) The Moebius Strip is an interesting little device.
You've got two sides to the ribbon at any point, but if you go through
it the sides end up being seamlessly connected.

If you cut the thing lengthwise, you end up with two interlocking circles!

What if this analog software picker could be seen as the interlocking
circles, or could be "uncut" to return to the Moebius strip?

This might help folks who find the endless layers of menus both
intimidating and distracting. You could start up the program at one
point on the ribbon with one set of options/menus available, or by
selecting a different spot on the ribbon, perhaps the same base program
with a different set of menu items enabled.

I'm thinking "pick the software by function" rather than by "program."
Some people might have a particular app they only use in a highly
specific setting. Instead of going through menus to try and remember
what it is called, you could go to the point of the ribbon where that
stream diverges for that little bit. (Who cares what the program is
called, anyway?)

Is this worth thinking about? How should I move forward to see whether
it could work?

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