I just wanted to go ahead and post up a reply to a blog post I found from Digg the other day entitled “Widgets Suck.”  The general idea of the blog post is that widgets (gadgets probably included, though this is mostly aimed at web widgets) suck because 95% of them don’t offer additional value, the developers are mostly amateur and unemployed, and really, most of the mashup stuff just isn’t really worth it.  While I can actually agree with a few points here (I’ve seen it happen, thousands of widgets that look almost identical and do even less then what they’re supposed to), I do have an issue with the last line:

Maybe some developers really only have widget-sized ambitions.

As a developer writing what could be considered damn near a standalone application, I personally don’t think that that I have a widget sized ambition.  In fact, my ego is quite large (just ask the people I work with).  I think the shift here is going from something ultimately larger to something very small and finding ways to pack the same punch.  Widgets and gadgets are more about distribution and ease of use than stand-alone applications, which are usually about features and power.  Vista gadgets especially embody this philosophy as they are very easy to install (3-4 clicks from any download link and usually very little time to download).  There’s also mention in post that widgets are just free promotion for various sites.  This is true of most widgets and gadgets, our own included.  The trick here is be able to take an existing system (regardless of who runs it), and make it available to the user.  This is why I have a love / hate relationship with APIs.  I love that I can do just about anything I want with them, though I hate that I wasn’t the one to design them.  Then again, the world isn’t perfect and you have to take what you can get.

Gadgets are about distribution of content to the average user and the ability to relate options, power, and ease of use for any particular product by way of popular sites, APIs, and well, anything else that’s useful, to the end user.  Getting paid in this matter?  Well, I can’t say much, but think about the most commonly used sites for a little while and I’m sure you’ll figure out how it all works.

I for one, find that many gadgets really don’t work well because they don’t balance themselves out between the user and the developer.  Focus on the user and the rest of the equation will follow suit (ie. Power, Options, Interface, Monetization, Flexibility).  Of course, if developers did decide to start thinking a bit more about the end user and concentrate on making their products better as their skills increase, then I think gadgets and widgets will start to get some of the respect they deserve.

P.S.:  Sorry about the rant everyone, I just had to post something up.  I’ll come up with better content soon.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2007 at 6:48 pm
and is filed under Gadget Stuff.



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