Why is objects so hard?

Object oriented programming has existed for over 30 years however users still dont see objects at all. Even when it is object oriented, it is made totally static and fixed so that users dont get any benifit out of objects. When you see research projects show how easy objects would be for users, the first question which pops in my head is why is not here yet. The reason is simple: its easy to whip up a demo but its a whole different thing to deliver an actual useful implementation of objects. The last commerical object oriented system that had real objects was OS/2. I am not talking about kernel objects or objects in code. I am talking about objects visible to the actual user of the system. That he is aware of the objects and can manipulate them. Its hard creating an object system. Look at microsoft and see how in 2 decades they still have not able to release an object implementation that is not demo. I had high hopes for WinFS but it failed because its so hard to limit the user experience on a 'limitless' experience. Its like trying to create the base essence for the world, its nearly impossible (although possible since well, it exists). Objects need to be simple in essense but be complex in structure but simple to use. That sounds hard! No wonder I am still stuck on these basic concepts for over 8 years. I am making great progress... Component Based Programming in C has recieved great feedback from my work environment and I am continuing to evolve the model and write code to evolve it as time goes by. I have never let go of working on Screens, I dream about this project daily and constantly researching in code and on the internet to find the solution to this problem. There are many others trying to find the solution as well. May the best solution win.

Still here

Hi,

I am still working on Screens as you probably can see by my twitter stream. Its still taking me forever to design the interfaces. Once I have an interface design, coding is very quick per component. I just spend alot of time perfecting my interfaces.

I know… I am a perfectionist and this system will never be more than vaporware. But even if so, I owe my full time job to Screens from all the years of research that I am able to use in my coding at work. Many of the projects I work on are directly affected by my work on Screens over the years. So even if Screens never leaves the ground, it has given me my paycheck. Not too shabby.

I think its safe to conclude that PalmOS is out of the picture not because of me but because of Palm. Everyone said that someone else will beat me to the punch, but it looks like the ship sank before that ever happened. Probably why the ship sank.

If I get back to the alpha stage that I got to two years ago, that would be great and show that at least I am doing something. Luckily Screens is multi-platform so it can just be ported to the handheld platform at the time. Again, once I reach the alpha stage again, I will upload my sources back into SVN.

I am now 26, married for 5 years with a 3 1/2 year old son and a 2 year old daughter working at a high-tech job. Screens gave me the last bit.