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Widget wizardry - info on your desktop
If you’re not intimately involved in the world of new media or technology, then you’d be forgiven for asking why people have applied the word 'widget' to a computer application instead of a can of draught beer. Jecinta Noble explains
What’s a widget?
A widget is a relatively easy application or mini programme which you can run on your desktop to provide relevant on-demand information, such as weather updates from anywhere in the world, analog clocks or traffic alerts.
You can get Desktop Widgets, Web Widgets and Mobile Widgets, and it’s worth remembering that the applications are advancing all the time.
How do they work?
Programmers use widgets to build graphical user interfaces (GUIs) which are automatically updated or provide a specific way for a user to interact with the application. Widgets can include icons, pull-down menus, buttons, selection boxes, progress indicators, on-off check marks, scroll bars, windows, window edges (allowing you to resize the window), toggle buttons, forms, and many other devices for displaying information and for inviting, accepting and responding to user actions.
What’s on offer?
As with most things in the wonderful world of technology, Apple Computer were the first to launch widgets available for mass consumers in 1984 with their Apple Desktop Accessories. Microsoft quickly followed with their own calculator and clock widgets, but essentially, these first applications performed minor functions.
Since then, widgets have come a long way but some still work better than others, particularly if you’re a Mac user. The iPhone, for example has built-in widgets such as YouTube!, weather, stocks and maps, while Mac’s OS X Dashboard widgets allow users to create their very own GUI. If available, you can also download a widget from your favourite website and every time new content is added, the widget will alert you, saving you from constantly checking sites.
The most impressive is probably Apple’s iPhoto-Mini, that draws images from your iPhoto library and allows you to browse through your entire collection, while iTunes Stats is a great one for music geeks; showing you how many songs you have, playlists and the number of songs played and unplayed.
On a lighter note, Hangman, Poker and Auto Crossword are fun, addictive widgets that you can use again and again, while the BBC Radio widget lets you listen to all their radio stations live in the background. Stickies is also very popular, allowing you to leave ‘notes’ to yourself on your desktop. In a way, it’s environmentally friendly as you cut down on Post-It notes! There appearance can be customised, they can be neatly lined-up and attached to a web site, document or folder so they only show when it's on screen. Windows and Mac have their own versions.
Slide, Inc is a recently launched company that distributes widgets to websites like MySpace and Facebook. Max Levchin, founder and CEO of Slide, is hoping to encourage users to insert ads into their personal widgets.
Is it worth it?
Essentially, yes. Widgets are an easy, free application and if you want to be kept up-to-date with your favourite topic or hobby, then there’s a widget out there for you so you can get on with your work and stop surfing the web. The widget does the work for you.
This article was created: 30 August 2007.
This article was last edited: 30 August 2007.
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