A few years ago when I first started getting into the wholeusability craze, one of the things that came up in my conversationswere the various metaphors used to interact with computers. The classic, most known metaphor is theconcept of a Desktop. I've seen ways to categorize information byit's meta-data and organize files in a Rolodex type of fashion aswell. Anyway, what if we were to invent a new metaphor with todaystechnology, now some 20 years after the creation of the desktop?Alan Kay andcompany are attempting just that.

Croquetis something I stumbled across way back when and its programmed inthe ever-so-rad Squeak. They've justreleased a beta available for download (its been in alpha for along time now). With it, you can basically create highlyinteractive 3d or 2d environments for multiuser applications. Inone example, an avatar is interacting with a 3d window. Thecontents of the window, are located on a computer that the spacebelongs to. The avatar is able to walk from space to space(computer to computer) interacting with different objects.

While this style of interaction is unlikely to replace the existingdesktop metaphor (3d spaces just don't do it for me), it highlightsan important step in creating the next level of applications. Onewhere the distinction between what is and isn't local is blurred inthe presentation, and the interaction amongst users issignificantly heightened. The ability for multiple users tointeract and manipulate objects (whether 3d or 2d), work ondocuments simultaneously, share information and work flows, arevariations of how the framework can be implemented.

I'll be curious to see if this shows up on the radar enough togenerate discussion (probably not). It's not about whether or notit's truly innovative, better than what we have, or anything else.It's merely about celebrating the fact that the creative processstill exists in this realm, and the hope that maybe someone willstumble across something better.