Lifehacker today featured a refreshingly simple PC hack. Unlike the other nifty and clever applications it unearths, this one was noticeably low-tech.
It's a "desktop organiser" that in reality is a simple wallpaper that divides the desktop space into different areas - an aluminum board, a ruled sheet of paper, a sticky note, and wooden background. As Lifehacker suggests "The idea is to treat the elements like you would a real desktop, putting temporary or urgent matters on the note, things you haven't yet organized into the outer parts of the desk, and personal or work projects divided between the board and sheet, for example."
What I love about this idea is that it's an "organising application" that works by seeking out the user's active participation. In effect, it rewires the user's mind and actions to achieve its end-goal.
Too often, we get seduced by the hi-tech and the clever - and become slaves to our tools. Sometimes a simpler way is to build something that works in active conjunction with the user. Chances are it'll be low-tech - and chances are that it'll bring about lasting change.
[Original desktop wallpaper by Gabriel Radic]
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