Using a “laundry basket with a search robot” IS inherently a worse way to store data than a “file system with hierarchy”.
Nested folders are reliable and predictable.
Tagging is also a good option.
Relying on search that is likely to fail in predictable ways is an awful way to do anything serious. And therein lies the problem… These people have mostly never done serious work with a computer before, that other people rely on. As soon as someone else stands to lose money or fail a class because you can’t find a file, the distinction will come into sharp focus.
Nested folders are reliable and predictable.
Tagging is also a good option.
Relying on search that is likely to fail in predictable ways is an awful way to do anything serious. And therein lies the problem… These people have mostly never done serious work with a computer before, that other people rely on. As soon as someone else stands to lose money or fail a class because you can’t find a file, the distinction will come into sharp focus.