BumpTop acquired by Google, no longer available
posted May 2nd 2010 3:14PM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
An important BumpTop announcement
Dear BumpTop fans,
More than three years ago, we set out to completely change the way people use their desktops. We're very grateful for all your support over that time - not just financially but also through all the encouraging messages from people who found BumpTop inspiring, useful, and just downright fun.
Today, we have a big announcement to make: we're excited to announce that we've been acquired by Google! This means that BumpTop (for both Windows and Mac) will no longer be available for sale. Additionally, no updates to the products are planned.
For the next week, we're keeping BumpTop Free available for download at bumptop.com/download to give BumpTop fans one last chance to grab a copy.
Existing BumpTop Pro users should visit bumptop.com/pro for more information.
Thanks again for all your support over the years. Despite our change in strategy, we remain as passionate as ever about helping shape the future of computing!
Sincerely,
The Bumps
April 30th 2010
@ChazClout
So would I! I'm just saying they are idiots to think that people who enjoy their product would like this. They are acting as if it benefits everyone when really it only benefits their (newly) rich asses, and everybody who likes their product basically gets shat on.
@jellotime91 I also found that really funny :D We're excited to announce our product is discontinued! Yay!
@jellotime91 We're excited that our work has attracted such attention - and that we can continue to make an impact on computing interfaces by working with Google. This is a great outcome for a start-up company because it means our work will get seen by even more people.
Our users are important to us. We pushed to keep BumpTop available for a week for fans - and we also pushed to keep Pro support until June. Really sorry that you're unhappy with the way things turned out - love to hear any suggestions!
@jho I'm not a customer personally, and I'm not really upset by this. I just felt like the response was a little weird given what's happening to the product.
I understand your view point though. Thanks for responding.
@jellotime91 That's true but what I like is the fact that you can get a full refund regardless of the date of purchase which is nice. I know that Google offered waaay more that my 32 USD but still its nice to get refund :)
By what is says, they're excited their product will no longer be on sale???
@CaptainPlanet
Captain Planet and Bobby's World on the same page. Epic!
Wonder if they'll get all "Grandma buying things on QVC to put in her closet forever" on this one?
Google and apple on a damn buying spree... war is on the horizon! Where the hell is M$soft!
@ComboBreaker
Buying Mexican snacks/desserts?
I had BumpTop on my Mac. Used it for a day and then uninstalled it. It's cool for about 20 minutes and then it gets old real fast.
In my experience it does nothing to help overall desktop usability and just throws around eye-candy box-transitions (similar to fast user switching on OSX) for the no good reason.
I doubt anyone can take this 3D box metaphor and actually make it usable. Not Google, not Apple.
Cute demo, but that's about it.
Microsoft better start getting their shit together..
So should I be worried or happy about this news? I guess I trust the big G on this and carry on with my personal life on gmail...
Grabbed a copy while I still can.
Uhm. Wait, what? BumpTop is a stupid idea and I really have no idea what the hell Google is planning to do with it.
hmm....so Google wants to step in now that Courier and Ink Seine from Microsoft are nowhere in the horizon for productization.
I used to have BumpTop on my XP machine for a whole year and coincidentally uninstalled it last week - it is just too annoying and provides the UX of staring inside a deep-bottomed box with all your stuff piled in (and not a desk as claimed). So I hope the Big G is not planning to use its UI design coz that would make it a Big F. The transitions part, I dont know if there is enforceable/licensable IP there..but maybe they did a talent acquisition?
this could be interesting. as if my android desktop with live wallpapers wasnt cool enough
sweeetttt can't wait to see what google does with it
@shockwave18 Its Obvious isnt it? They will use it to BOMB APPLE AND THEIR SILLY PATENTS AWAY!!!!
Ahem... got a bit carried away there, Eric Schmidt was posessing me
Google > Apple
@ConradOBrien
I know man, totally, pfft Apple and their stupid Xerox interface... check Bumptop Steve! Betcha never thought of that, huh!!?
Apple's soo going out of business haha
At least you can't say google did it to kill competition :P I'm sure they have some plans with bumptop.
Whatever they are up to, it will be damn good.
@Wekkel
Don't you mean, whatever they do, it will have something to do with pushing more adverts
I'm seeing the future corner stone of Google Apps, Google Home, your own desktop but from the cloud now with 3D !
I would not want to see this on chrome or Android. It is still bloatware no matter where you put it.
I could only see this UI working on kiosks with very limited numbers of selections to "pile up" on the virtual "desk".
It's a literal interpretation and is just a gimmick. If Google puts this on Android, they're going to make it massively unusable. On a limited screen space, it makes even less sense. Icons, categories and folders still trump any fancy gimmick ppl like throwing around nowadays.
But..But... like I said above, if Android is part of their plan to invade into general electronics, Bump Top on electronic kiosks? Some possibility there. Otherwise, on phones, tablet and computers, it's graphical fun, but a massive fail for actual organisation.
I wonder if they owned any patents.
Google is doing the world a favor, methinks.
I've mirrored the downloads here: http://techmunchies.co.cc/showthread.php?tid=14&pid=14#pid14
No registering required. Enjoy! :D
@mlj But feel free to register and contribute if you like! :D
anyone got a mirror of the bumptop dl? been trying to get a shot of it for over and hour at like 3k a sec.
sucks.
@Hef lol. nevermind.
welcome to the next Google Chrome OS feature.
I smell a Gpad in the works, this purchase makes me even more certain.
"We're definitely curious to see what Google has in store for BumpTop -- ChromeOS and Android could get real crazy, real fast."
Crazy like Apple and lala.com?
@Kerensky97 Nope. Just crazy. Not batshit crazy and evil.
"we're excited to announce that we've been acquired by Google!"
what the heck? excited for you, you got the money. What about the users that liked bumptop? I was going to buy pro and now I'm stuck with this half complete version. I'm annoyed. Google better do someing with bumptop and not just smother it to death.
Just to spit it out there, I am really excited about the thoughts/rumors/ideas of a OS from google... I just hope the ChromeOS won't look as shitty as their web browser, Chrome.