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by giantrobot
2293 days ago
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File and folder icons are not skeuomorphic. They were a visual metaphor at best. The whole "desktop" paradigm was a metaphorical concept. It wasn't trying to directly mimic a real physical desktop, just putting visual elements in some sort of context. There was nothing about a "folder" icon that behaved like a physical Manila folder. It was just an icon representing a logical construct that would group individual data items stored in the computer. The whole desktop paradigm was also completely replaced the moment an application was run. No Windows or MacOS UI widget really mimicked some physical item. Few applications tried to look like a physical item of similar functionality. Word processors weren't themed to look like a typewriter, spreadsheets didn't try to look like graph paper, databases didn't act like card catalogs or filing cabinets. In early iOS the skeuomorphic elements did try to take on a look of the physical things they represented. The calculator looked like an actual physical calculator. The address book looked like a paper address book. The notes app looked like a pad of lined papers and when you deleted a note it left a small ragged edge at the top of the view to look like ripped paper. The voice recorder looked like an old microphone and had an analog looking VU meter. The classic MacOS and Windows UIs didn't do that sort of stuff. Neither did Windows Mobile or PalmOS. You didn't see that with CDE, GNOME, or KDE. In fact the few skeuomorphic desktop apps I can even think of are your KPT example and some audio software that let you wire together effects units as if they were physical boxes connected with quarter in audio cables. |
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Really? I very distinctly remember note/task pads that looked like spiral-bound pads of lined papers, CD players that looked like a real CD player, and calculators looking like an actual physical calculator. Many computers didn't have the power to do fully-realistic stuff just yet, but those that did went to great lengths to be as close to the real deal as possible. See e.g. IRIX's IVcalc ( https://guidebookgallery.org/pics/gui/applications/office/ca... ), or the NeXTStep CD player that even had the damn volume wheel.
Granted, on Windows & friends many applications that shipped with operating systems didn't take it that far until the very late 90s (e.g. Windows Media Player 7, the one launched in late 99/early 00). But that's because they had to account for the low capabilities of entry-level hardware. And even then, there were exceptions (e.g. QuickTime on MacOS 9). But outside the realm of applications that shipped with Windows, as much photorealism as the hardware could give you was generally thought to be a good idea. Many applications, like that whole generation of "super CD player" and "scientific calculator" apps, didn't do anything that the OS equivalent didn't do, they just looked super futuristic and fancy.
It didn't float that well with most professional tools, like Office or Photoshop (or, heh, Paint Shop Pro). But that was true everywhere. Pages for OS X wasn't all lined papers and calligraphy, either. But outside that particular zone things weren't as somber.
And let's not exaggerate the extent to which skeumorphism was generally applied in early iOS, either. Lined paper pads and book readers that showed shelves of books, most applications just stuck to photorealistic icons everywhere and relief buttons.