Computer Desktop

I was sitting in Sip (see June 12th) this morning reading the paper, when I noticed that everyone around me was using a lap top, since Sip provides free Wi-Fi. I then noticed that the girl at the table in front of me had something like 40 icons on her desktop. Intrigued, I started checking out the other desktops around me that I could see. Every on seemed to have a lot of icons on their desktop.

Now why is that? I have 5, including the recycle bin and Mozilla short cut, and then only 3 other folders. What inspires people to fill up their desktop with all those icons? Why do I keep mine to a minimum? Is it indicative of some underlying psychological factors?