Extending document management systems with user-specific active properties
ACM Transactions on Information Systems (TOIS)
Taking email to task: the design and evaluation of a task management centered email tool
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Joel on Software: Selected Essays
Joel on Software: Selected Essays
Don't take my folders away!: organizing personal information to get ghings done
CHI '05 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Fast, flexible filtering with phlat
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Re-framing the desktop interface around the activities of knowledge work
Proceedings of the 21st annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology
Lightweight tagging expands information and activity management practices
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Hierarchical file systems are dead
HotOS'09 Proceedings of the 12th conference on Hot topics in operating systems
Teenagers and their virtual possessions: design opportunities and issues
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
A file is not a file: understanding the I/O behavior of Apple desktop applications
SOSP '11 Proceedings of the Twenty-Third ACM Symposium on Operating Systems Principles
Lost in translation: understanding the possession of digital things in the cloud
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
HotStorage'12 Proceedings of the 4th USENIX conference on Hot Topics in Storage and File Systems
Rethinking the web as a personal archive
Proceedings of the 22nd international conference on World Wide Web
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For over 40 years the notion of the file, as devised by pioneers in the field of computing, has been the subject of much contention. Some have wanted to abandon the term altogether on the grounds that metaphors about files can confuse users and designers alike. More recently, the emergence of the 'cloud' has led some to suggest that the term is simply obsolescent. In this paper we want to suggest that, despite all these conceptual debates and changes in technology, the term file still remains central to systems architectures and to the concerns of users. Notwithstanding profound changes in what users do and technologies afford, we suggest that files continue to act as a cohering concept, something like a 'boundary object' between computer engineers and users. However, the effectiveness of this boundary object is now waning. There are increasing signs of slippage and muddle. Instead of throwing away the notion altogether, we propose that the definition of and use of files as a boundary object be reconstituted. New abstractions are needed, ones which reflect what users seek to do with their digital data, and which allow engineers to solve the networking, storage and data management problems that ensue when files move from the PC on to the networked world of today.