The idea of embeddable-apps-in-a-box, or "the widget is the platform", seems pretty compelling to me. What are your reasons for thinking it's over-hyped?
I don't find the "most widgets are trivial" argument compelling; the large portion of the internet devoted to porn doesn't detract from the rest of it, and likewise, the uselessness of unpopular widgets doesn't detract from usefulness of popular ones.
I really like Google's widget advertising service that let you dive deep into content without leaving a page. For example, I watched all 6 video clips on a National Geographic widget ad for their new "6 degrees" show. I'd have never navigated to another page to do the same thing.
I think we're just at the beginning of widget up-take... but I could be wrong, and would like to hear the arguments from the other side (perhaps there good discussions of this elsewhere already?)
I don't find the "most widgets are trivial" argument compelling; the large portion of the internet devoted to porn doesn't detract from the rest of it, and likewise, the uselessness of unpopular widgets doesn't detract from usefulness of popular ones.
I really like Google's widget advertising service that let you dive deep into content without leaving a page. For example, I watched all 6 video clips on a National Geographic widget ad for their new "6 degrees" show. I'd have never navigated to another page to do the same thing.
I think we're just at the beginning of widget up-take... but I could be wrong, and would like to hear the arguments from the other side (perhaps there good discussions of this elsewhere already?)