<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On Apr 14, 2006, at 11:50 AM, Nathan Willis wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; ">On 4/14/06,<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN><B class="gmail_sendername"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Rodney Dawes</SPAN></B><SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN><<A href="mailto:dobey@novell.com"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">dobey@novell.com</SPAN></A>> wrote:<DIV><SPAN class="gmail_quote"></SPAN><BLOCKQUOTE class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">On Fri, 2006-04-14 at 12:07 -0500, Nathan Willis wrote:<BR>> Well, I did notice that, but I think it still leaves the underlying<BR>> question unanswered: why is there no addressbook app icon?<BR><BR>Because one has not been drawn, and we are trying to keep the metaphors<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN><BR>between app icons and mime type icons, different. We want to have the<BR>metaphors for app icons be tool/brand related, and the mime types to be<BR>more about the content.</BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR>Ah, but it has been drawn; the MIME type icon. And the MIME type icon is the same as the actions icon for "new addressbook." In what way is the x-office-addressbook icon about content? <SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN><BR></DIV></DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>But then again, it hasn't been drawn.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>:-)</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Seriously, though, one needs be try to separate the information from the presentation. This is a big point for user interfaces, and very much so for icons and themes.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>But first to answer your last question...</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>First, x-office-address-book is under "Standard MIME Type Icons". Under MS Windows, the equivalent would be the icon associated with a type, not an application.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Secondly, it's description there clarifies things further. That says "The icon used for generic address book file types". Again, this is for the *file type* (aka the data) and is not intended for the application running them. In fact, it could be a mail application that supports it, not an "address book" application. The former would equate to MS Outlook on MS Windows, while the latter would equate to "Address Book" on OS X (which is separate from Mail.app).</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Now here is probably the main point. This is the logical meaning of the given icon name, not it's physical appearance. Under some themes things might appear similar, but then again under other themes the "similar" icons might look wildly different.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>As long as the names are mapped to logical meaning, not just accidental coincidence of appearance, then themeing works and UI's can be changed, translated, and localized to specific markets. If, on the other hand, the icon names get their logical meaning overloaded, things get horribly difficult to switch themes or localize for other markets.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Oh... and to "already been drawn", though it might look that way to you, the icon looks very different from what I'd expect an application icon to look like. So what is the same for one person might be different for another person.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV></BODY></HTML>