[IxDA Discuss] "Interface-Free" Interface

[Jason Witenstein-Weaver]

I feel that the whole tagline of "Interface-Free" is a misnomer and
little more than sensational publicity for the lecture circuit.  If
there is no interface there are no interactions/objects/exchanges.  I
think it becomes a nice sound bite for a new way interacting, a new
metaphor, but ultimately there will never be an interface free
interaction.  A page of a book, a word on paper, a foot to a dance
floor, a hand on a steering wheel or any other point where two objects
interact (or interface) will all continue to be the reality of our world
at a fundamental level. Therefore, to march under the banner of
"Interface-Free" when referring to the simultaneous and highly complex
interactions we have with computers is simply...well silly. 

M-W.com defines the highly specific "Graphical User Interface" as: "a
computer program designed to allow a computer user to interact easily
with the computer typically by making choices from menus or groups of
icons."  To my mind, the key point here is "with the computer".  There
is the caveat at the end of the definition of "typically" when referring
to the metaphors (not the interface) of menus and icons.  I personally
think that Jeff Han's work is amazing and can potentially revolutionize
data visualization, but at the same time, I'm very well aware that it is
the overall way in which he interacts with the computer that is amazing,
the touch screen, the metaphors, the gestures; in all the interface.  

Ultimately I'm a huge advocate of the paradigm shift in application
interface metaphors and am personally on the front lines of trying to
change the way the world thinks about interacting with digital content,
but I do so with the understanding that the interface is the essential
not the disposable element of what I do.

Jason Witenstein-Weaver
Hillcrest Labs