Did the
government concept for a
common desktop environment on their
computers come from an extension of their policies on physical desktops?
A number of agencies, including the one my mother worked for had (and I assume still have) policies on what was and was not appropriate for the desk, office or cube. At the department of social services one picture of family, in a small frame, and one official department issue coffee mug. No plants, no toys, no finger paintings by your kids. Nothing tacked to the walls. Nothing to personalize the space or indicate that the person who worked there was any different than any of the hundreds of other worker bees droning away in the cavernous room.