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Gadgetised Madness
The bite-size internet cometh
by Rupert Sharp
of http://www.oyster-web.co.uk
Last updated: 12 Mar 2008
I've noticed recently that the way the online world has developed that there is less focus on centralised online programs and sites that stand alone and work, do the job they where made for and have there own features. The focus now seems on gadgetising everything in the name of personalisation (and for the business people of the net, in the name of marketing).
For example iGoogle, a homepage that has absolutely nothing on it. “How can you say that Rupert?” well I'll tell you. The iGoogle page on it's own is a search box with a funky background, because what iGoogle is is simply a large collection of gadgets created by a multitude of different companies and individuals which you pick and choose to create the so-called 'personalised' experience. This attitude especially applies to social networking sites such as Facebook and more recently Bebo but also browsers with 'add-on' widgets such as Firefox and Opera. I've had a go at creating a gadget for iGoogle myself, gave in eventually due to Google's badly designed and bug-ridden gadget editor which re-arranges and deletes your code when you least expect it (but that's another story). But despite that it is relatively easy to create a gadget to share even if you don't have that much technical knowledge; a little splat of fun JavaScript with your website address pasted on it and you've got a viral marketing tool. Not only will people find and use your gadget on the site you wrote it for and submitted it to, some gadget-driven sites also allow people to pick up the code and place it on their web pages as well; spreading the butter even further over the toast that is the web.
But it's not just the gadget creators that get advertising, because of this shift in web-trends it has also meant that the sites Hosting these gadgets can get away with achieving more by doing less. If a site is 'editable' or 'customisable' enough people will come in droves to make their mark on this new platform by creating games, calenders and tools and as said it also allows companies to boost marketing and expand their services; such as seeing who is online on your instant messenger list via a little box or even a window showing you a popular auction on eBay or something similar. So basically the sites hosting these tools are benefiting as their site now has more features that the original programmers hadn't even thought/hadn't had time to make, which means more Traffic for them; why do you think Facebook took off like a shot?
By the look of it it's going to keep spreading, most sites have their own gadget now (some sites even have libraries of them) which do nearly anything you want bar cleaning your shoes and taking your dog for a walk. Has the 'all in one' attitude died?
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