Fluff from the naval of my mind

BumpTop is a nice piece of eye-candy that extends your Windows (and now Mac) desktop into a three dimensional representation of a desktop. Documents on your desktop have ‘physical’ presence. They can be tossed around, stacked into piles, pinned to the walls, resized and previewed, all with a few mouse clicks or multi-touch gestures.

It’s fun to play with BumpTop’s physics engine that makes larger icons heavier than smaller ones (so they knock smaller ones around when tossed into them), fun but ultimately pointless and once the novelty wears off you are left wondering what to do with the desktop. What, ultimately, does all this cleverness actual contribute to your desktop and they way you use your computer?

The problem with BumpTop (for me) is its focus on only the desktop folder. I want all my files to be managed, not just my desktop. I seldom place files on my desktop, I keep it clear of all but a few Automator scripts and Droplets for converting files (other icons on my desktop are drives that the OS puts on the desktop and the Trash icon), consequently I seldom interact with my desktop and BumpTop does not add enough to change they way I work to be more desktop centric.

Extending the desktop model into three dimensions may, one day, be the norm but today it is more an experiment. A curiosity that may eventually bear fruit and produce a more productive work environment.