Pools, pipes and filters or Stream Algebra

[Vlad Dumitrescu]

Jay wrote:
> As a user I don't want the layout and tools all predetermined.  In an
> email client I have a composer, folders and a browser.  Sometimes
> I want that and sometimes I want a different layout and different ways
> of finding and organizing things.  Why only folders?  Often I want the
> email data in my word processor or database or address book.  Why
> does the data have to be divided by application?  Why can't the data
> just be data and let me operate on it or view it in whatever fashion I
> choose from among the set of tools that are available to me?

You mean, for example have a window open on a file, mark out some text and
the right-button menu will say:
    View As -> Word processing
                        Database
                        Email
                        CAD
                        something else?
Most conversions can be done automatically, and some of this is already
present in today's file managers, so it's not really a technical problem, I
suppose, but the implied paradigm shift for users as well as developers?

regards,
Vlad