A Sexier Interface

Happy I am with my new computer. At least, I could finally download a huge file without sweat and do more multi tasking. Staring at another product of the Mr. Gates made me say “How time flies?” It’s seems like yesterday when our CS professor asked us to memorize both external and internal DOS commands. Oh, not just to memorize but he gave a practical exam with all the terrors in his eyes. Modesty aside, I got it all. Not that I’m good but my score was driven by fear of embarrassment. I don’t want to be embarrassed and so I seek divine intervention. So as I am always saying, it’s NOT me, it’s God. During those times there are no sexy interfaces. You have to live with a command prompt or command line interface (CLI). Those lines with c:> To anyone who is in limbo about these internal and external DOS commands—these are commands issues at the command line. Internal commands are simply “built-in” commands like Copy, Dir,  Delete etc. The external commands are executable files like .bat, .exe or the .com files. Examples of them are compiled programs done in Basic , Clipper,  Foxpro,  Pascal etc. Currently, you can still use them at the command prompt. After the era of Command Line Interface (CLI), the Graphical User Interface (GUI) was born. Operating system like Windows provides both CLI and GUI. The Apple Mac has it’s own GUI. Ease of use, better looking screens, more functionalities were offered with GUI. We enjoyed GUI for many years now. But with the iPhone and Android becoming popular, the Natural User Interface (NUI) is getting its shares of interface. NUI allows users to carry out relatively natural motions, movements or gestures that they quickly discover control the computer application or manipulate the on-screen content. The idea or the possibility of adapting NUI in electronic devices has been there for a long tim. Though, this was pushed through in 2006 when Christian Moore led a research community about the development related to NUI technologies. Nowadays, NUI is becoming the interface of our favorite devices. With NUI, it’s easier to level up from novice to an expert user.

From Command Line Interface(CLI), Graphical User Interface (GUI) to Natural User Interface(NUI), we are heading to more exciting electronic devices.