Windows 7 icons and the metaphor of the desktop

Many people (just to pick two: Frank and Francisco-Revilla) have long since discussed the death of the desktop as a reasonable metaphor for all sort of interacting with documents and capabilities of computing systems.

However, to a certain degree, computing has appropriated these metaphors for itself. Consider, for example, the concept of a ‘folder’. What do you think of first? A place to store (digital) files, or a piece of bent cardboard, perhaps yellow? For some (especially those who grew up with Windows or Mac), folders and desktops and files are inherently computer-based concepts.

So when you look at the Windows 7 icon for a ‘folder’, all gussied up and ready for the prom, it takes a minute to figure out what the heck it’s supposed to be. I mean, what’s with all the shine and the colorful dots? Not only do you have to reach back beyond the digital age to figure out what it is, you have to dig even further to the - what - 1950’s or 1960’s when they actually used metal to craft anything like a folder holder.

So what do we do - continue to look at the physical world for reference points, or start to treat concepts like “the folder” as the digital artifacts they’ve become?