Command Line: The PseudoSimplistic Feature
I was very excited at first to learn about the command line interface, because I felt like it was going to make navigating my computer so much easier (not that I found it that hard to begin with). Command line just made me feel like I actually know what I’m doing. However, actually learning the command and what exactly it does, at least at the level of simply finding and editing files, I felt that the command line was extremely unnecessary. Learning all those abbreviations and how exactly to navigate through the shell takes so much longer than simply clicking on the folder in your documents section. To actually fully edit or read a text in that command line space is almost impossible, at least for me personally, because seeing all that information smashed into a tiny space was very overwhelming and I was left not knowing where to start, even with their shortcuts for navigation. I think the command line is very symbolic of how humans are so quick to want to simplify everything we do. In theory, being able to edit multiple files without leaving the same screen sounds very helpful. In the end though, we are left with a system that is more complicated that it has to be, all for the sake of this apparent ease. We are never satisfied with what we have, and we are constantly finding ways to “improve” or find new ways to use existing technology. Even if the new ways are not necessarily the best, we are still somewhat content in knowing that we built upon and existing technology, at least temporarily. In this current time of constant “going” and being busy, we like this idea of controlling and manipulating all of our files in a single window no matter the cost. Some people are willing to sit down and learn all the shortcuts needed to move around for the sake of this apparent “ease”. They are unaware that all that extra work may not necessarily be time saving, but not having to leave the screen is reward enough to them. We are a society that thrives on immediate gratification, and seeing files instantly appear simply by entering a 3 character code and pressing entering is quick and seemingly simplistic. We fall for it, and we begin to think that this way is the most convenient of efficient without realize all the time it took to actually learn to use the command line. Overall, I understand why the command line seems like a great idea, and why people may actually attempt to learn the shortcuts. However, in the end it just not seem worth it or time saving to me, and it just seems like a very unnecessary feature.
