Viewer-Friendly Interface: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|'''Casey:''' ''"I'm installing 'Cinema-OS', the operating system used in the movies."''

'''Andy:''' ''"Any downsides?"''

 

Any computer interface that is designed to be seen on television, as opposed to actually be useful for the user.

 

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In the ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' anime, Kaiba goes to his [[Hacker Cave]] and uses a computer that follows almost all of the above rules to break into Pegasus's secret database (It does multitask, but then again the screen is 2 by 3 metres). Seeing as it?s also commenting on his mood, it might be more advanced than it looks like.

* In ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]] Vs. Predator'' - when this sort of thing would usually require a modicum of human intervention - a computer announces by way of bright red flashing that it's detected an "unusual heat signature" and then zooms in on the satellite photos of the source and generates a map which shortly thereafter becomes a plot point.

** Admittedly, this is a computer getting a feed produced by the film's fictional Weyland Corporation, the founder of which is the "pioneer of modern robotics", but this takes place and was ''filmed'' in 2004, so this would have to be a case of [[Instant AI, Just Add Water]] in that case.

** He should see ''Star Trek IV''. It illustrates his point about the time travellers brilliantly- [[Crowning Moment of Funny|"Hello, computer."]]

* ''[[Iron Man (film)|Iron Man]]'' embraced this trope with enthusiasm, though to be fair, this ''is'' Tony Stark's home and company..when an 'outside' computer was used, it used a mostly text-based interface, and unwieldy keyboard commands. (F5 then "i"?)

* Most Linux desktop environments include (or provide support for) ''compositing window managers'' ('''Compiz''' might be the most common) that utilize the system's GPU to render windows, as well as apply complex special effects to them. Earlier versions used to have lots of obscuring or annoying effects only useful as a technology demonstration. Nowadays they are mostly used for subtle user-friendly effects (such as panning between multiple desktops, window previews and smoother animations). The technology was widely popularized when they became an integral part of the system instead of an add-on with Ubuntu's Unity (which originated as a Compiz addon) and [[KDE 4]]'s KWin.

* This also applies to UI designed for netbooks, like MeeGo's ''Clutter'' and UNR's ''Unity'' interface. Justified in that Netbooks tend to have small screens and somewhat limited resolution as well as less processing power compared to their larger and more powerful counterparts.

*** That's what it's there for. The fact that it is actually useful once you've trained yourself to use it is beside the point. And they're doing it again in Windows 7 with a new feature - Snap.

*** Just about everyone who has something to say about Mac OS X has something to say about the Dock. And some would say that it falls into this trope.

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* [http://www.galactanet.com/comic/view.php?strip=163 Casey & Andy] has a strip about Casey installing "CinemaOS" on his computer, the features of which he lists as the ability to "instantly access any devices, all programs work perfectly, and you can hack into incredibly secure networks". When asked if it has any downsides, he says "It can't show any font under 72 point."