Great Scott!

I have been thinking.

Thinking about user interfaces. And eyecandy.

I've got a good one. Imagine the cursor is a small, white circle. Translucent, but more of a solid white than transparent. You can just about make out outlines and major contrast areas through it. About the size of a fingertip. The contents of the screen are recessed. There is a gap between the actual front of the screen and the contents (This gap is, of course, virtual). The cursor resides in this gap.

When you click, the cursor taps the contents of the screen where you pointed. If you're clicking a link or an icon, a puff of white explodes outwards from the edge of the cursor.

To signify special characterisitics, symbols appear within the circle. Arrows for resizing and dragging, the number of files selected if selecting multiple files for whatever reason, a chain with an arrow for a link. Things like that. For text, the circle would become a bit more see through and a line would appear, straight down the middle, splitting it.

Now imagine a user interface with physics. If you quickly grab a window and flick the mouse, letting go before you complete the motion, you toss the window in the direction gestured.

Arrows are cool, hands are cool. This is the future.

The person I quoted in the last post was Dr. Emett Brown of Back to the Future fame.