“An often-overlooked feature the Lisa system used is its early harnessing of document-centric computing instead of application-centric computing. On a Macintosh, Windows, or Linux system, a user typically seeks a program. In the Lisa system, users use stationery to begin using an application.”
Wikipedia entry on the Apple Lisa
I’m not sure if iOS’s reversal of this principle is, on balance, good or bad. I’m happy that I know where to find my Pages documents on my iPad, but I can’t do any of my “real work” in any single app. Even if I could, collaborating on this document with others would then be clumsy.
