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My Ideas

Purpose

This page a collection ideas I have on business, software, behavioral economics, food, friends and everything else.

IDEAS: Software Features

“Move” file feature

Michael Bannen | November 15, 2009

The Problem…

 

Lots of files: Like most people, I save a lot of files (e.g., Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, zip files attached to email, PDFs downloaded from the Web, etc.)

Initial vs. Eventual: The place I save those files initially may not be the place I want the files to end up eventually.

Moving: So I have to move files. Moving files is a pain. Often “moving” simply means saving the file again in a secondary location. Which means I end up with two files that are essentially the same.  If I’m feeling especially responsibile and diligent I will crack own Windows Explorer (Windows Key + ‘e’), browse to the location of the original file (if I remember where the original file was located), and delete it. Then I wonder if I deleted the right one :-(

The solution:

• Move function: Every program that generates files has a save feature (usually ‘File > Save’). Since ‘move’ is simply a ‘save-someplace-else and delete-the-original’ maneuver function, EVERY program with a save function should have a move file function, too.
• How it would work:  Add “move” to the “File” menu. Add a “are you sure you want to move this file” confirmation box to the move function (with an option to not see the confirmation meassage again). If you wanted to be really sophisticated about it, there could be an optional to leave behind  a link in the old location to the file in the new location).
• Benefits: Elimnates need to open Windows Explorer (or whatever you use on a Mac). Reduces duplicate files and all the benefits of better organization.
• People are doing this anyway. Software should do it for them.