As a means of deleting files and documents, the Macintosh trashcan is a perfectly intuitive metaphor. Unfortunately, the designers decided to extend the trashcan metaphor to include the completely counterintuitive function of ejecting diskettes: drag an image of the diskette to the trashcan to eject it from the computer.

The Macintosh simply took the trashcan metaphor too far. They gave the trashcan magical powers that are completely incompatible with the established metaphorical association of deleting files. As a result, new users express anxiety and dismay at the metaphor, and even experienced users express reluctance to use the metaphor: “I don’t want to delete the files on the diskette, I just want the computer to spit it out.”

How do you eject a disk?