When it comes to web technologies, getting something displaying on your screen is easily achievable. Widgets are things which seem to be poping up all over the place, from components in iGoogle, to those widgets held within the Vista sidebar, and even those you can download for browsers like Opera. With all of these delivery platforms, surely we would be able to see something different, something unique, something interesting.
But alas, it seems that all these different technologies seem to bear fruits of recycled ideas. Since the dawn of time, there have been plugins for checking the weather, and getting a bigger clock on your screen. With the advent of bringing programming to the masses, we see more and more amatuer developers trying to get in and deliver software back to the community, yet seem to be rehashing the same old stuff.
30 pages of clock widgets!
Don't get me wrong, I applaud the idea of getting more people to code free apps and release them into the wild; but you'd think with all of these fresh new developers that there would be a few better ideas than designing a nicer looking clock or weather display panel. To be honest I use my taskbar clock to tell me the time, and my Real World(tm) window to get an indication of the weather. So then why would people be interested in making apps that don't seem to get used?
To be blunt, most of these widget creations are simply a learning exercise to get people into and using the new technology. Is it a good idea to create a clock or weather tracker to wet your toes in the technology? Yes. Should you release your work to the public? Maybe. Will you get millions of downloads and become an internet celebrity? It better be a REALLY good clock.
I think it's unavoidable, however, that these sorts of niggly mini-apps will persist across a long range of technologies to come. It seems with the advent of easier programming and development environments, more people are going to jump on the bandwagon and make their first de facto "Hello World" app - a clock/weather widget.
posted @ Wednesday, November 28, 2007 7:55 AM