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Comment by whacked_new | Hacker News Reader

Various similar concepts have been explored.

Apple is the most secretive company in the world and have no need to publish unpractical prototypes on YouTube, lol. I assure you, they've been exploring alternative interfaces for quite sometime... their entire history encompasses the user experience.

I work at BumpTop. BumpTop may have started as a research prototype of course, but it's very much a real product by now, with Windows as the first platform. You can see users' screenshots on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=bumptop) and http://customize.org/bumptop, and sign up to get in line for an invite at http://bumptop.com.

Also check out a video of BumpTop a few versions ago: http://bumptop.com/help

You can also check out a video of BumpTop on big ass touchscreen here: http://www.vimeo.com/1144121

I'm a founder of BumpTop, we loves hacker news.

That's true, their entire history encompasses the user experience, dating back to when they first stole the mouse and graphical user interface from Xerox Parc, then claimed ownership over the ideas and sued Microsoft for using them.

I gave you an example of open innovation with similar foundations. The existence of impractical, exploratory research is a good thing.

I anticipate a counter along the lines of "x company must have gone through y impractical prototypes during..." which I will not disagree with, but secretive is not really in everybody's interest here. It is in the company's interest, which does not justify the closed platform.

And then, I am not saying that Apple should be less secretive -- I am saying that while Apple makes good UIs, Apple gets over-credited in when it comes to innovation. I say this with no motivation other than to add a perspective. :)

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