Where do Digital Desktops stand? Some Possible Answers.

January 24 1984.

No this isn’t a World War 2 documentary getting their D-Day date wrong. This is in fact, an article about the future of the desktop; and you can’t talk about the future without first talking about the past. Right?

So what happened on this date that is so important to the future of our digital desks? Well, Apple launched the original Macintosh featuring a revolutionary new way to communicate with the user. Images. Until then, users had been communicating with their machines via command lines and endless scrolling command lines of meaningless words. Well now, they had their very own digital desktop, complete with icons and floating windows.

It was a huge success so, naturally, they continued to build and improve on the Macintosh Operating System. Then, a few years later, Microsoft decided to use it. Now there was no stopping it. So, both Apple and Microsoft built and built and built their operating systems and its’ interface until we eventually come to today. Windows Vista and Mac OS X Leopard. These operating systems and their respective interfaces have become so mature… it’s almost impossible to improve them.

So, what’s next? Well with the increasing number of new types of devices, new types of interfaces are needed. Take the Apple iPhone for example, multi-touch technology and therefore needing a bit of a new interface design. It’s a multi-touch interface again, with the Microsoft Surface which takes another different approach.

Well, it’s probably the next big thing in Interface Design right now; who can win the race to design the next innovative desktop interface?

One of the most well-known and popular in terms of a possible answer, is BumpTop. The concept is designed around recreating your off-screen, physical desktop on-screen. It sounds a bit of an odd idea untill you watch their video (embeded below)

It’s interesting however ot be honest, I don’t really want my desk mess on my computer screen as well.

Of course, in a years time, this post may be in the history books; right next to the date at the top of the post. Why? The technology industry is forever changing and is therefore our predictions are forever changing. The whole industry may be following one past, then one company could come along and change it all. Thats what makes this industry so interesting.

Let me know what you think in the comments.