Direct manipulation of displayed content

A computer-implemented method for controlling display of information based on direct manipulation of the displayed information without use of separate manipulation controls, the information having multiple channels each representing an alternative stream of groups of information available for display, having a history including a series of previously displayed groups of information, and having multiple amplitudes at which the information can be displayed, the method comprising:

• receiving an indication of the information to be displayed;
• determining a current channel of the information, a current group of information from the stream associated with the current channel, and a current amplitude;
• displaying the current portion of the information at the current amplitude;
• and
• for each of a series of received indications that a user has dragged the displayed information,
• when the user has dragged the displayed information in a predefined direction associated with the channels, displaying a group of information from the stream associated with a new channel, the new channel selected based on the dragging;
• when the user has dragged the displayed information in a predefined manner associated with the amplitudes, displaying the current group of information at a new amplitude, the new amplitude selected based on the dragging;
• and
• when the user has dragged the displayed information in a predefined direction associated with the history, displaying a new group of information from the series of groups of information, the new group selected based on the dragging, so that the user can directly manipulate the display of information without the use of separate manipulation controls.