at Ubiquity: widely rambling, fascinating interview with Jef Raskin, the man behind the Mac (inter alia).

Another example is the absurd application of icons. An icon is a symbol equally incomprehensible in all human languages. Whatever language you know, you have to learn the meaning of an icon anew... Just look at a typical directory menu; a flood of identical icons distinguished only by (gasp) words! Ever notice that those little tips come up to explain icons are words? Note that we don't have little icons pop up to explain words.

I just call it "The Humane Environment" because it's meant to be humane. It treats human beings well. By contrast, the present GUI interface was meant to make conventional computer structures more accessible... The operating system is the program you have to hassle with before you get to hassle with the application. So instead of trying to gussy up everything and put these various wolves in sheep's clothing, I got rid of the wolves.