Bumptop 3D desktop interface for mac OS X out...

http://bumptop.com/mac/

anyone try it out yet. I’ve downloaded it, but so far can’t really find it that useful, though some nice eyecandy…

Demo vid, from youtube for a prototype of the UI. a bit boring narration, but I remember when I first saw I was kinda blowed away. The real thing isn’t exactly as shown but there are more recent demos on the main site.

at least it’s something new and kinda slick…

R

Thanks for the share. I’m going to give it a try. I may actually use some of the advanced features of the mac interface now.

very cool, but no good for neat-niks like me! This is what my desktop looks like.

actually you could make it even neater. pile everything up in one or multiple piles! plus you can have it in a flat view instead of 3d if you like. i’m using it a bit now, and it takes some getting used to, but kinda neat and very seemless experience with OS X.

Pretty tight, especially for free!

R

I can just imagine my horror trying to find a file on someone elses computer that has that.

Just downloaded… now I hope the little guy’s nap lasts another hour or so…

Doesn’t make sense to me for practical use. Visually pretty, and looks fun to use.

My files are perfectly organized in folders on my hard drive, and automatically backed up to my other hard drives. There are parent folders, folders within folders, all carefully created. Not piles all over each other.

Their idea was to organize digital files in an way that is obsolete.

Computers allow for better/smarter/more efficient storage than physical documents, hence one of the reasons why we’re using computers and not typewriters.

I have been using it for about a week, its really fun and useful.

You can still organise things neatly in folders but it just keeps loose or one-of-a-kind files neat on your desktop untill you do something with them.

I dont know how long i will keep it for, its fun but i think i like to have a large high res wallpaper instead :slight_smile:

this might simplify your computer in a few small ways, but the added complication from using all the features pretty much cancels that out. the usefulness : annoyingness ratio is all wrong

This isnt a new idea for ui design, there are several dockbar applications out there which do stack icons ontop of each other,
but for a productivity point of view i would reccomend the 4 desktop style of ubuntu/debian linux as it offers an awesome amount of work space for relatively little resources.

i think we need a new way of organizing data on a computer. the filing cabinet metaphor was good 50 years ago when computers were invented, because people were familiar with it and it helped them understand the new invention. but it is a metaphor of organization in physical space “put it in that folder” “that file is on the desktop” and most people really aren’t that good at organizing in physical space. many people have messy desks, and many people have messy hard drives. it would be better if they were organized by context, to allow quick access to them in the applications that need them. how does your brain organize data? all the relevant information you have comes up as soon as you think about something. you don’t have to remember where you put something in you head.

bumptop (i’ve got to admit i’ve never used it, but i have used some pretty similar stuff) simply extends the metaphor of file storage in physical space. i’ve already got messy piles of papers on my real desk, why would i want messy piles on my virtual desk? but really, i’ve never used that actual software, so maybe i’m missing something. just some thoughts.

I think Apple’s front row is exploring file management by type, automatically ordering things according to efficiency and then just letting you search based on key parameters… I think we will see a new way to visualize the OS in the next few years. It would be a good project to storyboard out!