What is the purpose of "eye candy"?

[hazel]

In another thread, Roxoff mentioned that Windows Vista has just caught up with the lovely desktop eye candy that Linux users have enjoyed for a couple of years. It set me to wondering what purpose eye candy actually serves. Can someone explain it to me? Or is it one of those "toys for the boys" things that no mere woman could ever hope to understand?

For me, a computer is basically a gateway to applications that allow me to do interesting things, and utilities that allow me to learn interesting things. I can't see what eye candy adds to either except to use up memory and processor cycles that could otherwise be used by my apps. Also the more gee-whiz! the interface, the bigger and more expensive your computer has to be to run it.

How do other people feel about this?

[techieMoe]

In another thread, Roxoff mentioned that Windows Vista has just caught up with the lovely desktop eye candy that Linux users have enjoyed for a couple of years. It set me to wondering what purpose eye candy actually serves. Can someone explain it to me? Or is it one of those "toys for the boys" things that no mere woman could ever hope to understand?

For me, a computer is basically a gateway to applications that allow me to do interesting things, and utilities that allow me to learn interesting things. I can't see what eye candy adds to either except to use up memory and processor cycles that could otherwise be used by my apps. Also the more gee-whiz! the interface, the bigger and more expensive your computer has to be to run it.

How do other people feel about this?

It's not necessarily an issue of gender as much as personal preference. I'm a guy and I agree with you; less is more for me as far as I'm concerned. I use a computer to do things, and the less the interface gets in my way while I'm doing it, the better.

Eye candy is, to people like us, a superfluous addition that uses resources that could be put to better use elsewhere. I've played with desktop effects like transparent windows, "floppy" windows like in XGL and 3D desktops like Sun's Project Looking Glass. I always end up turning them off. They're just extra fluff to me.

That being said, I imagine there are folks out there who love to play with their graphical interface, and for them this sort of thing is quite the interesting toy.

[bigtomrodney]

I would have agreed with you a year or two back. You can always cut things out and optimise. But when would it stop? You could switch to a simpler DE/WM. You can run smaller apps. To be fair you could do most of your everyday tasks like emailing and surfing the net from the command line.

I would never let eye candy run the show for me but I do think it adds to the user experience. 80% of your sensory input is your vision, why not make it a little better? With that said I think the new wave of eye candy such as Compiz and Beryl provide a lot more functionality than they get credit for.
Sure there is a lot of beautification of the desktop and even wasteful things like the flaming menus but things like scale and cube which in my opinion add to useability.

If we're sticking completely to eye candy, then I think a limited amount can add and smooth over the user experience. If we're talking about the current range of 3D desktops then I would say there is also the benefit of shifting weight from your CPU to your largely unused GPU. That would actually spare you the cycles

[benjamin20]

eye candy is a quick and easy way of showing advancement, even when advancement hasn't realy happened, or if regression has occurred, to actually divert attention from such regression.

basically, its easier to hire graphics artists then programmers.

under right conditions eye candy is to just make things look better or best case scenerio to allow more comfortable ease of use.

[cayalee]

think go faster stripes, spoilers and alloy wheels but for your computer desktop.
not very useful, but some people think they look cool.

[smolloy]

I like eye-candy, and for no better reason than "it looks cool". That may be cos I'm a guy, but that's beside the point.

Of course I want my computer to be functional first and foremost, and if the eye-candy gets in the way of the functionality it won't last long on my system, but if it can be functional and pretty, then I'll choose that. This is reflected in my current choice of distro -- Sabayon -- which has all the glorious functionality of Gentoo, but with the gorgeous prettiness of Beryl.

And I agree with BigTom -- there are many aspects of beryl that are considered to be mere eye-candy, but that I think improve the functionality of the OS.

[Oxygen]

I value functionality first, but if you can use it and have it look nice at the same time, more power to you. Basicly it's your work enviroment. I have a red theme on KDE because I like red, it's my favourite colour, I feel comfortable with red.

[cousinlucky]

Ah the male propensity to be instantly fascinated by what he sees. Beautiful women, powerfull cars, mounds of cash, and BigTomRodney's computer. A weakness that is never overcome; that which will catch the human eye.
It is a young man's fancy.

I am old now so if I see a woman with not enough clothes on I get disgusted no matter what her physical assets are and look away. Powerful cars get people killed in needless car accidents. Mounds of Cash means you need guards and guns to protect it and it would keep me from ever sleeping soundly.

If you want to get disgusted at your computer screen you merely have to go to Yahoo or msn to get bombarded by things that these folks think that they can get you to buy.

Walk in any store and they place things so that your eyes can not miss them. Not everyone resists " eyecandy " no matter where it is. If it was not an evident exploitable human weakness it would not exist.

I would not have the slightest idea how to adequately use BigTomRodney's computer but I still wish I had one.

[Vergil83]

Lets no all dump on eye candy just yet. Eye candy can (not always or even most of the time) improve usability.

[Simpatico]

For me, a computer is basically a gateway to applications that allow me to do interesting things, and utilities that allow me to learn interesting things. I can't see what eye candy adds to either except to use up memory and processor cycles that could otherwise be used by my apps.

Sounds like a Slackware and/or Debian user to me.