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What even is an OS now?

310 points · 479 comments · fratellobigio

  1. Xirdus · · focus · HN ↗
    In my opinion, this post misses the forest for the trees. Yes, the model of an OS running various off-the-shelf apps for various tasks will soon become obsolete. But it's not the idea of the OS that's outdated - it's the idea of apps. Why would you ever want to ask an AI to make an app for you to complete some task, if you can instead ask the AI to complete the task directly? The future isn't a bunch of extremely personalized apps - the future is a single AI assistant doing all the work.
    1. copperx · · focus · HN ↗
      This is the part that many people are missing. Decades ago I heard "the ideal UI is a search box," and I agree today even more.

      I don't understand why people are still thinking that clicking on stuff will still be a desirable thing in the future.

      1. mrkurt · · focus · HN ↗
        Inputs for the ui might be me talking, or typing, or having someone else talk or type. They might also be GPS, temperature, BLE devices nearby. Or maybe a button I smash because I don't feel like re explaining something.

        What happens after an input is still the best part of a UI. We like seeing/hearing/feeling things in different ways.

        1. Xirdus · · focus · HN ↗
          The fun part about AI assistant is that you can straight up tell it how you want data presented, and it will do its best to present it that way (within limitations of its capabilities and available tools).
      2. dyauspitr · · focus · HN ↗
        What you’re describing is basically a terminal. We’ve had those for a while.
        1. 1718627440 · · focus · HN ↗
          I agree, which is why I don't understand why these are treated like magic tools by the laymen.
      3. duskdozer · · focus · HN ↗
        I agree - we should have many more good fully-keyboard-accessible UIs!

        I don't want to talk to my computer to use it.

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