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The case against conversational interfaces

(julian.digital)
279 points nnx | 1 comments | 01 Apr 25 02:14 UTC | HN request time: 0.478s | source
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nottorp ◴[01 Apr 25 05:33 UTC] No.43543165[source]▶
> because after 50+ years of marriage he just sensed that she was about to ask for it. It was like they were communicating telepathically.

> That is the type of relationship I want to have with my computer!

He means automation of routine tasks? Took 50 years to reach that in the example.

What if you want to do something new? Will the thought guessing module in your computer even allow that?

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chongli ◴[01 Apr 25 05:46 UTC] No.43543236[source]▶
I don't know, but I feel like we already have the "telepathic grandfather interface." Or at least we try to have it. My iPhone is constantly guessing at things to suggest to me (I use the share button a lot in different apps) and it's wrong more often than not, forcing me to constantly hunt for things (to say nothing about autocorrect, which is constantly changing correct words that I'd previously typed into incorrect ones)! It doesn't even use a basic, sensible LRU eviction policy. It has some totally inscrutable method of determining what to suggest!

If we want an interface that actually lets us work near the speed of thought, it can't be anything that re-arranges options behind our back all the time. Imagine if you went into your kitchen to cook something and the contents of all your drawers and cupboards had been re-arranged without your knowledge! It would be a total nightmare!

We already knew decades ago that spatial interfaces [1] are superior to everything else when it comes to working quickly. You can walk into a familiar room and instinctively turn on a light by reaching for the switch without even looking. With a well-organized kitchen an experienced chef (or even a skilled home cook) can cook a very complicated dish very efficiently when they know where all of the utensils are so that they don't need to go hunting for everything.

Yet today it seems like all software is constantly trying to guess what we want and in the process ends up rearranging everything so that we never feel comfortable using our computers anymore. I REALLY miss using Mac OS 9 (and earlier). At some point I need to set up some vintage Macs to use it again, though its usefulness at browsing the web is rather limited these days (mostly due to protocol changes, but also due to JavaScript). It'd be really nice to have a modern browser running on a vintage Mac, though the limited RAM would be a serious problem.

[1] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2003/04/finder/

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1. nottorp ◴[01 Apr 25 05:53 UTC] No.43543281[source]▶
> With a well-organized kitchen an experienced chef (or even a skilled home cook) can cook a very complicated dish very efficiently when they know where all of the utensils are so that they don't need to go hunting for everything.

Even I can make a breakfast without looking in my kitchen, because I know where all the needed stuff is :)

On another topic, it doesn't have to look well organized. My home office looks like a bomb exploded in it, but I know exactly where everything is.

> I REALLY miss using Mac OS 9 (and earlier).

I was late to the Mac party, about the Snow Leopard days. I definitely remember that back then OS X applications weren't allowed to steal focus from what I had in the foreground. These days every idiotic splash screen steals my typing.