This week, we discussed two readings: Karl Stolley’s “Lo-Fi Manifesto and Moncia Chin’s “File Not Found.” However, in this post I want to focus on Chin’s article, one that discusses file management (and implies that it’s becoming less and less common with students.)
Out of the two pieces, I found Chin’s to be a little easier to read and understand. This is not just because of the language the author uses, but also because the material of the article was interesting to me. In this piece, Chin interviews different professors and college students on their views on file management and discusses how these views differ and what the cause of that may be. In short, the professors tended to view file management as one would think about an analog file cabinet: each cabinet has sections, each section has a folder, each folder has its own files. On the other hand, the students seemed to think of file management as… nonexistent, perhaps? From what I could understand, most of the students thought of their files as all being in one place where they could just search for what they needed specifically. As a serial organizer, this was interesting to me because although every file on my laptop has a specific folder that it goes in – its “home” – my peers handle their downloads in a variety of different ways. Not only does Chin’s article highlight this difference, but so does the discussion we had in class about this topic. Overall, it seemed that there was a mixed bag of views on organizing files. I made the comparison that people who don’t organize anything on their computers reminded me of the kids who would just shove papers in their backpacks in high school. In “File Not Found,” Chin mentions that one comparison that was made was that students tend to think of their downloads folder as a laundry basket where all of their clothes (files) live and where they can just dig through and pick out exactly what they need when they need it (all the while hoping that it’s still in there.)
Personally, I think that file management is very important because while, yes, most computer systems come with search features to aid in finding a file, those search features are often… well, terrible. As a Mac user, I don’t think I’ve ever had a 100% successful experience using the search bar. So being able to just follow a path that I’ve created for my files is immensely helpful in keeping my laptop (and therefore my life) organized.
Comments
3 responses to “File Not Found … Actually It Was, But Only After Hours of Searching.”
Hi Bailey! Your perspective on file management was so interesting to me. I wish I was a serial organizer, but alas. I wonder if our differences in computer systems impact our different approaches at all–with my Windows system, I’m able to find things when I need them after a few minutes of poking around and making some educated guesses, I just don’t need to find things very often. I can totally understand it being easier to know the layout of your files if the search function is kinda non-functional, though; that makes sense. However, I must say I didn’t appreciate your comparison between people like me and people that just shove loose papers into their backpacks lol. That’s a completely different story–although I must admit the analogy makes sense. Great article!
Hey girl! Your post was well written and thought out. I love how you go into the importance of file management through the use of comparing managing files to an array of things. Such as your comment you made in class about how people who don’t manage their files are like the kids who shove their papers in their backpack… which was a funny comparison (I laughed), but also such a wakeup call for me. Your post and the way you presented the importance of file management makes me feel I need to organize my files. Also, I love the comment you made about how you’re a serial organizer. That was so funny to me, because I love to organize too, but not my files… so your post was my wake-up call to organize everything, which for me means I will be busy over fall break LOL.
Your title called me out by my full government name and listed my address. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone searching through my PC files for a download or photo, just to see that I didn’t name it what I thought I did.
Chin’s writing felt a little bit like my grandfather complaining that kids these days don’t know what it’s like to grow up with a hammer in their hand. I then realized that I only felt called out because my files are never organized. Reading Chin’s piece and listening to our in class discussion sort of whipped me into shape in terms of file management. So, I owe you a thank you. Great post. Thanks for helping me get my files together.