Multitasking
ignorethecode.net
ignorethecode.net
>However, the argument that multitasking on computers is bad because humans can’t multitask is flawed. It uses the word «multitasking» in two different ways, but implies that the two kinds of multitasking are somehow the same thing. They’re not: a task (or an app) on a computer, and a task performed by a human don’t map to each other one-to-one. In fact, a single task performed by a human can easily make use of several applications running concurrently on a computer.
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The fact that the iPad only lets me see one app at a time often does not help me focus. Instead, it forces me to switch between apps constantly, thus preventing me from focusing on my task. Every time I have to deal with the iPad’s task switching, I’m interrupted.
About time someone with some blog-clout said something like this. Full-screen application switching has a far far greater mental-cost than having two windows open at the same time. And preventing two windows from being open at a time just cripples those who would benefit from it (and enforces application uber-silos).
As an XMonad user with a 15.4" screen, I disagree. For example, when programming, I find it quite easy/fast to alt+1 to my browser for documentation, and alt+8 to go to my 8th workspace, where I usually have a couple terminals open with vim. Or sometimes I'm switching between those two and Gimp on workspace 6.
This doesn't really require XMonad, just having workspaces and quick shortcuts for moving through them is good enough. Most applications are easier to use when you give them the whole screen (at least smaller screens). But yeah, if you're using some sort of taskbar/dock to switch between applications with your mouse, it's probably easier to just have both open together.
I have the same layout every day: screen 1 is tmux with several xterms, one running vim; screen 2 is the browser; 3 is email; 4 is remote connections; etc.
I constantly toggle alt-1 and alt-2 to jump between vim and the browser and it takes no mental effort. Why not put them side by side? I could, but I prefer full screen.
[Your down-voter could perhaps re-read the guidelines.]
On Windows, on the other hand, nothing switches quickly. Ever. And it takes a long time for applications to "wake up" after even short periods of non-use. Nothing but a second monitor has ever saved me.
On the iPad, currently, the situation is far worse than even Windows users suffer through. Double-tap the home button, and click the application (maybe scrolling between), which isn't in a static location. That's a non-screen action, followed by a change in the UI, followed by a touch, followed by a comparatively-slow transition. I liked someone-here's suggestion of gestures solving this, but single-tasking on anything without a separate keyboard is a total efficiency-crap-shoot everywhere, from what I've seen.
Here I've got vim and Firefox open, with the focus on vim. I switch to another desktop to glance at some documentation (since the Firefox window on the first desktop is for the application I'm developing), switch back and begin typing. But alas! My key strokes are logged to Firefox, because that was the last application I had focused, rather than to the last window I was using on the desktop.
Aside from that, once I added some basic tiling functionality[0], it's not too bad working on it, even for a someone as used to a tiling wm as me.
I wonder if there's a simple-ish way to solve this? It seems like the sort of thing a daemon could resolve.
In other cases (e.g. writing a cover letter or a job application while looking up information about the company on their website), you constantly refer to two different apps, so it makes sense to allow both to exist on the same screen.
There are valid use cases for both behaviors.
Hopefully HP can continue what Palm started and make the very nice a better competitor in other areas where Palm wasn't doing as well: hardware, availability, marketing.
He has a great point about the distinction between user and OS multitasking. But if and until iOS changes, it means that there are more opportunities for developers to addresses those niches.
That’s the pixels but I think that even more pixels won’t help much. The screen size stays the same on those tablet devices and fingers don’t get any smaller. You might well be able to put a bit more text on the screen but not much else. It’s a challenge.
Easier application switching – lowering the cognitive cost of switching applications (something like the mindless alt-tab that saved me on the 1024 pixel wide screen) – can certainly be a first step in making tablets better. It’s not quite as good as simply moving your eyes to a different part of the screen but it’s certainly possible to at least improve the tedious switching process. I think that gestures are perfect for this.
I don't know how practical or good of an idea this is, but if it has any merit I'm sure someone more sober than I can put it eloquently.
By the way, I'm not suggesting a windowed UI like on a desktop OS. Rather, I'd like to see simple tiling, where two apps each occupy half the screen.
The core problem is reducing the pain of switching apps. On a desktop, screen resolution and space allows you to position windows side-by-side or overlapping. On iOS you have to double-tap, and select an app from the bottom dock to switch to. Android has the same problem- you press the home button, and choose an app to switch to. Both forces the user to focus on managing apps, instead of focusing on the desired "task".
However, the argument that multitasking on computers is bad because humans can’t multitask is flawed.
I believe the author's point is that focus/attention is more important than being able to "multi-task". Refer to Daniel Simons's experiment (the invisible gorilla) on selective attention.
There aren't many things people do on computers that are automatic (at least not many things I do). But I'm typing this on a computer with three monitors, and I can say objectively that my efficiency is way higher than if I had one small screen with at least two clicks to get to my next app.
Today, I designed an icon, provided customer service, wrote some technical documentation, did a little programming, and a few other disparate tasks. Each of these tasks required a different skill set, and there was a productivity hit every time I needed to get into a new frame of mind and, in some cases, figure out where I left off. So in this context, multitasking was activities done over the course of the day, not simultaneous ones.