Interface innovation: the future of information access

NewsFactor Network writes: “The way we handle information on our computers is called the “desktop metaphor.” But there is nothing metaphorical about the way we point-and-click our way through icons, folders and files. A number of companies are experimenting with software and services that allow users to better navigate around, through and over the mountain of data that comes pouring through our home and work computers every day, in the shape of e-mail, faxes, Web pages and spreadsheets. If the new systems ever catch on — and some skeptics say our old system is too ingrained to make way for the new — it could change the whole concept of how we relate to our machines.”