Cover Flow

Cover Flow is a 3D graphical user interface for selecting titles represented by images from a collection.

Apple bought the original script, which was distributed free of charge, from the developer in 2006 to equip it with the iTunes media player.

Here's the story behind its use by Apple ...

- On September 12, 2006, iTunes was introduced with a new interface.
- On January 9, 2007, Apple announced that it would be integrated into the iPhone.
- On June 11, 2007, Steve Jobs announced that he would become part of the Leopard operating system for MacIntosh.
- September 5, 2007 iPods are equipped and allow you to choose from album covers.

In 2008, Apple lost a patent infringement lawsuit filed by a Yale teacher unhappy that his idea was used without attributing paternity to him. This concerned Cover Flow, as well as two other graphics effects used by Apple, Spotlight and Time Machine. Not wanting to push too hard, it still reminds how Apple quickly takes inspiration from other people's ideas, and furiously when the rest take his ideas again, as evidenced by numerous lawsuits with Samsung and other mobile device manufacturers.

Apple uses this graphic effect to represent music album covers, but it can be extended to any image or even as KDE to everything else...

Indeed, many applications have taken up the principle of such an interface. For example, KDE 4.1 allows you to select from application windows using Cover Switch.
The Compiz Fusion theme for Linux uses the name Shift Switcher for something like that .
Firefox 3.1 also repeats the principle of navigation between tabs.

If you want to use a similar effect on your site, there are open source projects.
Several Ajax frameworks also provide a Cover Flow extension.
For Mac, you can download the original Cover Flow .