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10.5: Partially tame Time Machine's warping background
Authored by: Padriac on Nov 08, '07 10:02:55PM

Tiger comes out, and the hints include:
- how to disable dashboard
- how to disable spotlight
Leopard comes out and the hints include
- how to change the dock
- how to change the menu bar
- how to change stacks
- how to change the look of time machine

Notice a trend? Notice how people coincidentally seem to hate every and any major new feature? If people mostly hate every new feature in each new version of OS X, then why do they keep upgrading?

Me: I think it's half legitimate complaints and half just being scared and/or resistant to change. That and the fact that the internet is full of grumpy old men.



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10.5: Partially tame Time Machine's warping background
Authored by: HobbesDoo on Nov 08, '07 10:32:57PM

I couldn't agree more.



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10.5: Partially tame Time Machine's warping background
Authored by: dzurn on Nov 09, '07 07:04:18AM

I don't agree. These hints show that Apple's offerings can't be all things to all people, and we are just some of the users. I don't know of anyone who has turned off all those things, rather it's a way to remove inconveniences or improve how things operate.

The GUI gives an "it just works" layer, while there's another hugely powerful system just underneath. MacOSXHints just lifts up the corner of the GUI, so we can see and appreciate the rich Unix-y goodness underneath.

I find it amazing that so much of my Mac still works from the command line, giving me power I never had with OS 9.

Darryl



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Madness takes its toll.
Please have exact change.



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10.5: Time Machine's warping background
Authored by: MacMan03 on Nov 09, '07 07:12:40AM

I agree,

Also I think Time Machines warping background looks good…

Certainly MUCH better then that boring white background…




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10.5: Partially tame Time Machine's warping background
Authored by: Padriac on Nov 09, '07 10:08:37AM

Also let me be clear: what Rob (and others) do on this site is *amazing* and I love that people can tweak things if they really want (even if I personally have no desire). It just seems that every time a new OS is released all the hints seem to focus on making the new OS behave like the old OS as much as possible. There's no way you can say that there isn't at least a shred of "I just want things to be the way they were before, harumph" mixed in with the actual useful tips.

Sometimes the vibe here gets a little too "damn you young kids and your rock music and your space backgrounds" for me and others who don't really have a problem with the thing being "fixed". The dock was a good example: Rob railed on it and then he put up that poll that ended up showing a majority of the people were fine with it (last I checked anyway). Maybe if the hints just focused on "here, you can customize the time machine background, here you can customize the dock" rather than the evaluative statements about why the tip author hates the time machine background or new dock or whatever. I could do without that opinion part: it's a bit arrogant and self-serving.

Just some observations, Rob. Keep up the good work, but maybe think about the way the tips are being presented.



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10.5: Partially tame Time Machine's warping background
Authored by: robg on Nov 09, '07 12:15:30PM

The poll of which you speak shows (as of today) that 39% prefer the 3D dock, and 36% prefer the 2D dock. I'd call that a tie -- we're talking about a difference of 165 votes.

What that says to me is that Apple should offer users a choice between the two, as it's clear that nearly as many people (at least here on hints) prefer the 2D dock over the 3D dock.

And I have no resistance to change -- when change means new features that add value. I do, however, have a huge resistance to useless, CPU-sucking, no-value-add changes that are made for the sake of graphics alone. I have yet to hear one good explanation for translucent menus, translucent menu bars, 3D warping backgrounds or the 3D dock other than "we think it's cool."

For those of us who *don't* think it's cool, it would be really nice to have the option to not use those "features."

-rob.



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10.5: Partially tame Time Machine's warping background
Authored by: Padriac on Nov 09, '07 02:24:56PM
http://sigchi.org/chi97/proceedings/paper/nt.htm

Moral: if you find something aesthetically pleasing, you will find it more usable.

So if you hate the Time Machine background you should change it because you'll then find Time Machine more useful. But if somebody finds the Time Machine background "Cool" and appealing, they will find Time Machine MORE usable because of that. Just as you subconsciously hate Time Machine because of the graphics and all that CPU they waste (seriously Rob? Computers primarily do nothing but waste cycles all day, so what's the harm in using a truly insignificant amount for aesthetics?)

I'd wager the number of people impressed by the warping background outnumber those who despise it, and as such the space background (ON AVERAGE) is a better universal choice than the "ugly" white background. This also highlights my point about not making evaluative statements about how you hate this or that change: it's too subjective to hold true for everybody, so why bother? Your aesthetic opinion is not everybody's.

This also highlights another important fact:
Looking cool *is* a worthwhile goal as long is the benefits outweigh the costs. If a visual change greatly improves your opinion of the interface element even if it slightly decreasing its usability, then the visual change is valid and worthwhile. This fact consistently blows die-hard, command-line-or-death types as they simply refuse to believe it. But if people use Time Machine more just because they find it "pretty" then the space background has more than justified itself.

So there: now you can't say you've never heard of a justification for the warping background. And I know for a fact you've been given reasons as to how the new Dock does improve some aspects of its use (admittedly it also introduces some new problems, but it's not like there's absolutely no justification for it, whether Apple intended it or not).

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10.5: Partially tame Time Machine's warping background
Authored by: robg on Nov 09, '07 03:46:45PM

I was given reasons why someone *thinks* the new dock is better. None of those reasons, however, stood up to any sort of scientific logic.

As for the TM interface: I don't want a white background. I want a nice, static, non-moving, functional background that doesn't take my eyes off the very windows I'm trying to look at.

I would be fine with vortex.png if it just sat there. Really. All I want is the option to disable all this stuff. And yes, on a mini, the CPU suckage is very noticeable. Flying "back in time" through the pages of TM is a jerky, ugly proposition. Why? Because half my machine's horsepower is being used to render meaningless imagery.

What's wrong with giving users choice?

-rob.



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10.5: Partially tame Time Machine's warping background
Authored by: makip on Nov 12, '07 01:32:49PM

I was reading this particular thread and I just got to thinking..

I really appreciate what Apple has done with Time Machine. Regular backups and a version control system is very important, and I think the significance of this new feature would have been lost and possibly ignored my many users if Apple didn't go with this metaphor and special effects. Its scope really captures the attention of users who aren't tech savvy and may not have bothered enabling a feature they may otherwise see as a waste of disk space.

Having said that, I also prefer to disable gratuitous effects. It gets in the way of my workflow and I will probably look for a way to do so with Time Machine when I upgrade. Apple needn't offer a choice on everything (it would get complicated) but simple choices like this are common sense.

ps- Padriac, wasting CPU cycles on many seemingly small things does add up. Even if you dont feel the impact on system performance as a portable user you do still chew through your battery faster.



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10.5: Partially tame Time Machine's warping background
Authored by: p0pper on Nov 18, '07 08:15:01PM

really, this entire site would be so much more lifeless without the opinions of the posters. this is not an academic paper, so there should be nothing wrong with sharing them. if they piss you off, as an opinion will always do to someone, you must deal with it, just as in the real world. they are unavoidable.

i feel that your computer should be completely configurable to your tastes, and that information about what files affect what output, etc. are things that should be shared (i might go so far as to say there's a moral obligation to share).

the unfortunate thing about these things we use, is that they are sold by businesses, and that those businesses need to grown until they are like cancerous tumors, or they die. to accomplish this, they need bait to attract more fodder. these 'improvements' that are the subject of this debate all seem to be this type of addition. i agree with robg that new things adding functionality are great and that new things that are marketing bling usually end up muddling and hindering efficient use. if this computer i'm using is truly mine, i should be able to change any of those things i don't like, with the proper knowledge.

this site is, as you said, Padriac, really great and informative. however, as a user-created site, it is, in essence, a complicated editorial. it is also about freeing your equipment. we should keep the speech free as well.



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Decay heat is not ordered information.
-Patrick Lui (SLAC)
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