We Don't Need No Stinkin' OS

Let's face it, artists don't care about operating systems - they simply want a transparent instrument to create art and a vehicle to freely express ideas. I'm a composer by trade and I don't care what operating system saves my files or displays images - I just need it to consistently and safely work. All popular operating systems have their strengths, but all have the basics down. Before you start flaming that I don't get it - I understand it's a lucrative business, Windows is more than an operating system, <your operating system> has features <the other operating systems> can only dream about, and ground-breaking hardware necessitates its software companion. So, let me put it this way: Perhaps less energy should be focused on rehashing the basics and more on making computers useful for ordinary people.

Visionaries like Alan Kay and Dan Ingalls have dedicated a good deal of their lives enabling machines to help creators realize ideas. Why don't we hear more about their pioneering work and less about the next version of Windows?

In his 1981 Byte article: "Design Principles Behind Smalltalk" Dan Ingalls said: "An operating system is a collection of things that don't fit into a language. There shouldn't be one." Smalltalk-80 (which is what Dan was speaking of) and it's offspring (e.g. Squeak, VisualWorks) incorporate OS facilities such as display, keyboard and file management. But to be deployed and used in today's world, Smalltalk systems are built to sit on commercial operating systems - what people are handed when they purchase their PC.

What do artists care about? The ability to express ideas with a computer has been a holy grail for decades. Alan Kay's dynabook design and user interface research focuses on enabling the user to gain authoring comprehension not being a slave to it. Kay's focus on "learning by doing" parallels learning a musical instrument. A computer's interface should be an instrument whereby you learn by practice - the more you practice the better you become. Like a musical instrument, it should possess the possibility to create ideas that are infinitely rich in detail and nuances.

I'm not suggesting that the computer should, or could, emulate human expression out of the box. Consider the trumpet: 3 valves, some tubing and a bell - simple. But, it is much more in the hands of a virtuoso. "The music is not inside the piano (Alan Kay)." It is not inside a camera, a paint brush or a trumpet. A computer can extend much wider than a musical instrument, and so it should be designed to assist the artists in the creation of ideas, the authoring of art and alternatively the vehicle in which to deliver your work. But, the artist's creative thought process must not be continually interrupted by endless cascading menus or popup dialog boxes.

Let's look at a few who are making a difference.

Check out Craig Latta's natural language prototype Quoth (make sure your volume is up.) Although not a complete computer system, his demo illustrates a fresh idea on how music can be created... similar to a conversation with musicians in a dynamic setting.

Croquet is a development environment and a delivery vehicle that allows users to collaborate on their work. A personal environment can dynamically connect to any other Croquet space in the world. Since it is built on Squeak, anything in the environment can be changed. And, there is not necessarily a line between developer, artist, user or audience. A great example of an instrument.

Concentrating on the user interface, mezzo follows unique design rules. I find it similar in concept to Traktion where little is hidden from the user and scrolling is kept to a minimum.

If more money was dedicated toward helping people express ideas, then I think we'd see a significant change in computers... and we might see a 180 degree flip of who runs the technical world. Then again, maybe we're better off that the little guy, in some back room, is dedicated to realizing the dynabook.

What system do you employ to author art? Have you found unique computer systems for artists? What do creators really care about?