Taking the folders out of my operating system
After reading a recent blog post on Lifehacker about using tagging and saved searches in Vista to simplify file management, I decided to try and think about what it would look like to take it one step further. What would an operating system look like that eliminated the office metaphor of filing folders for organization?
Imagining an operating system without file folders is getting easier since we are becoming accustomed to seeing searching and tagging everywhere from email to desktop search. One way to eliminate folders would be to just replace the folder selector in the Save dialog boxes with a tag selector. The Open file dialog would similarily have a tag selector instead of a folder one. So the user would no longer pick where a file goes, but rather how it should be found. Instead of adding metadata/tagging being an extra step it would be the only step.
Beyond making searching easier, adding tagging as a mandatory step would open new doors for developers of client applications. For example, iTunes type software could be rewritten to run off the tags that all files had; so instead of painstakingly laying out directory structures to accomodate a personal library, a friend's, a shared one, you would just navigate your libaries by going through your tags.
Project management software could be enhanced to use tagging to create virtual workspaces for project related documents instead of an elaborate public folder structure. Backup software would almost write itself, i.e. backup all of my Music, everything for Project A, pictures from My Vacation. Best of all, this type of activity would be fast; since everything would already be tagged and indexed at the OS level, new applications would not have to implement their own ways to search your hard drive.
Vista has taken baby steps in this direction by adding built-in desktop search and exposing the search APIs via .NET. However, as long as the underlying file folders are there, it is hard to imagine getting most people to start adding the extra step of tagging their files. Beyond that, the biggest barrier is that folders may be an example of a "just good enough" solution. Yes, they can be a pain, but it is a pain we are all used to. And familiar pains can be the hardest ones to let go.