Two Metaphors That Should Probably be Reevaluated
Files on the Desktop
The reason we refer to things on computers as files is because the first computer programs were recorded onto pieces of paper — literally, files — and the first popular graphical user interface, the Finder on Macintosh, used the top of a desk as the primary metaphor for its organization system. Files are just containers, and they can hold anything: photos, text documents, audio files, etc.
To the computer, there is no real distinction between the contents of the files, but they are sometimes represented on the screen differently using icons and extensions. The data within the files are usually manipulated by specific applications. It’s up to the user to organize his files and to remember which applications can open which files.
Pages on the Web
The reason we refer to things on the internet as “pages” is because the first implementation of the web used newspapers and books as the primary display metaphor for its organization system. The web was originally designed to show pages that contained static text and images linked together. A “page” can be any specific view on a website.
To the web browser, there is no distinction between the contents of pages. The only things that change between pages are the graphical rendering inside the browser window and the URL in the address bar. It’s up to the user to organize her sites and pages as bookmarks, or to remember the URLs.
