I don’t normally comment on Apple patent filings. I’m a lawyer after all and I appreciate that companies file for patents all of the time, very few of which ever see the light of day. AppleInsider ran an article today however that caught my attention. Apple has filed for a patent on a three dimensional desktop. Imagine throwing stacks, the desktop, and the time machine view into a blender and pressing “mulch”. You’d get something that looks like the above.

I actually find this patent both intriguing and very possible with existing technology, especially with the racy graphics cards Apple is shipping in all new laptops. In order for this to work, I think it would be best as a mode you can activate, just like Expose and Spaces. I wouldn’t want it present all the time but it sure could come in handy when needed. Maybe this will be the often denied Snow Leopard eye candy. What do you think?