Dashboard: Irrelevant in the age of iOS or gaining new life in Lion?

I use Dashboard all the time, I use it to check the London Tube service status (thanks to the "clipping" feature - remember that!), I have "!sdrawkcaB" for fun, a dedicated BBD Radio widget from Andy Allcorn, the stamp widget which tells me the number of GMail messages I have (because I'm British and I love it: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/email_messaging/mailchecker.html), a widget to make hidden files appear (because I don't know the sudo code for it), a network monitor to see if my ISP is throttling my speed and a timer (to check 10minutemail in three minutes time to verify this comment [http://www.tuaw.com/2011/05/09/tuaws-daily-mac-app-minutes/])

Other as well, but not telling you lot! Yes its really nifty, if you want it to be, much easier than typing in my password into my iOS device and then searching for the app every time I need to do something.

Sports scores (ESPN widget and webpage widgets) and weather (widget and webpage widget). That's all I have to say about that.

Personally, I wish that Apple would have dropped a couple of apps off of the iPad and put them in as widgets that you could access through any app with a 3 finger drag.

When iOS came on the scene, I thought Apple would allow people to write write Dashboard apps and run them both on MacOS and on iOS. Alas, this was not the case. So what purpose does the separate Dashboard mode serve?

Delivery Status
Weather
Now Playing
Calendar
Lottery
Looking For Group comic strip

So, maybe it is my lack of computer skill or the enjoyment I derive from pressing keys, but I’ve always loved the “Dashboard” feature on my Mac. First of all, I adore how easily accessible it is from the keyboard. With one press of a button, I can simultaneously view the weather, date, scores of the latest Duke basketball game, and any sticky notes or reminders I have. Unlike many of the other features on the Mac, Dashboard is easily reached and always in sight thanks to its convenient placement next to F3 – another key that I use frequently. Disclaimer: I fully appreciate the integration involved in Mac’s systems and how user friendly they are. But, I think the simplicity of the “Dashboard” is something often overlooked. For example, iCal is a great way to organize tasks and meetings, including its reminder features. But, sometimes I yearn for the straightforwardness of list making. The simple “note on the fridge” reminding me to pick up cleaning supplies from the supermarket or that I have a meeting in the AM. There’s something about making a sticky note and having it on my Dashboard that seems more tangible than iCal. And because I’m always clicking on the Dashboard daily to check the weather, I have this constant token and don’t need to rely on iCal’s automated reminders. I don’t (and never will) feel the constant urge to check my iCal. Additionally, it feels more rewarding to be able to delete a sticky note once I’ve completed everything on it – iCal doesn’t provide the same proverbial pleasure of “closure.” Also on a small side note, for the life of me, I can never find the calculator on my Mac (because there isn’t one?). It’s ghost. But, thanks to Dashboard, I have a calculator only the press of a button away.

Also, being a student, I took a course that discussed design, specifically form versus function. And, I can’t help but comment on Dashboard’s design. The function mirrors that of the neighboring F3 button, and they integrate seamlessly. Press F3 and the different windows appear. Press F4 and the basics appear. They make a great pair, and I can appreciate the strategic placement on the keyboard. Additionally, the button-like appearance of widgets (and their concept) act as like the precursor to Apple’s apps – they’re clean looking. Simple, basic. And, that essentially reflects their purpose: to provide the basics. It’s something I appreciate about the whole functionality of the Dashboard. It’s not about the different, advanced features that tend to make technology more complicated and less user friendly. It’s not like “apps” which tend to have games as their top-grossing medium. Dashboard represents something basic, simple, and easy to use.

That being said, I can see how the app function and integration in the iOS would usurp the role of widgets and the Dashboard. After all, Dashboard is almost like the prototype for apps. However, unless Apple includes a convenient key press for apps, I don’t see it as having the same convenience. You could press the F4, apps would appear, but then you’d have to click on the app in order to run it. Meanwhile, widgets are “perpetually running.” All one needs to do is press the Dashboard and they appear. Moreover, apps have the potential of cluttering desktops, and organizing them into smaller folders has the added burden of going through more steps in order to know the weather. Unless they make an app for Dashboard.

I use iStat and Radar in Motion.

Man, TUAW has some real Dashboard loving readers, based on the down-votes of Dashboard critics. One distinction for me is that the Dashboard can be handy for single-glance, passive apps that deliver information like the weather.

For news, by contrast, it's so much easier just to freakin' open a newspaper website than to 1) open dashboard, 2) click headline, 3) read article, 4) go back to dashboard, 5) repeat. And for just about any productivity task, the Dashboard interface is simply too limited.

Plus, many Mac beginners simply don't know how to turn it off, not understanding they're wasting processing power and slowing down their computers by keeping open a bunch of widgets they never see or use.

Dashboard - one tap and so much to view! Nothing could be easier. I use it all the time!

I'll chime in as one who uses it all the time for few apps. But I think that's the point. The Dashboard is specifically limited by real estate, so that alone can limit the number of apps someone uses.

It's not designed for "one use" apps. It's for "one trick apps", apps that do one thing, but not one use. It's for things you want handy and at a glance. Set them up and leave them, or interact with them in limited ways.

Things like games are really not good examples of the idiom. But stocks, weather, calculator are perfect examples.

My desk top is slammed with windows, along with my dock. I simply don't have room on my dock for much more. But dashboard apps are there pretty much "all the time", and take zero time to launch (much less find). Hit F4 and I have a 1/2 dozen apps all at once.

You're not supposed to "live there", it's just supposed to be handy. I'm glad it takes zero room on my desk top (like all the other widget solutions).

I hope Apple removes the dashboard and focuses more on integration with the iOS. Dashboard has sat out for a long time and doesn't seem to be going anywhere lately.