Comment Grouping of Files (Score 4, Insightful) 493
The article suggests that perhaps the laundry basket concept could be superior. However, it depends on the use case. One such important use case is grouping similar documents. The article doesn't mention this at all. It's focusing on finding a single document.
Let's say that I have X files in a data set, or X tax documents for the year 2021, or X estate documents I need to give to my lawyer. I don't remember how many there are, just that I need them all.
Files can be organized and searched by name, metadata such as tags, in hierarchical folders, or even by physical location such as on the desktop. I can search by name, but would need to know the naming format used, or find one document first then search for similarly named ones. Or. I can search by tag, but I would need to remember the tag used, or read through a list of available tags to find the correct one. Tags are useful in that multiple tags can be applied. Or, I can traverse a folder structure. If the folders are named well, it can guide you to the location. I don't think any of these are perfect. The article failed to explore why any of these might be useful versus a single laundry basket of files.
Let's say that I have X files in a data set, or X tax documents for the year 2021, or X estate documents I need to give to my lawyer. I don't remember how many there are, just that I need them all.
Files can be organized and searched by name, metadata such as tags, in hierarchical folders, or even by physical location such as on the desktop. I can search by name, but would need to know the naming format used, or find one document first then search for similarly named ones. Or. I can search by tag, but I would need to remember the tag used, or read through a list of available tags to find the correct one. Tags are useful in that multiple tags can be applied. Or, I can traverse a folder structure. If the folders are named well, it can guide you to the location. I don't think any of these are perfect. The article failed to explore why any of these might be useful versus a single laundry basket of files.
