A number of people really want widgets of some kinds - little things showing information like the time, or CPU clock, or battery left, or music playing.
The problem becomes that A) people really want different presentations of information, B) something tiny and satisfying in the corner isn't as easy to justify as a big improvement, even if it is, as a big flashy thing, and C) some people get very upset at anything doing this at all.
Look at how people got super excited about active desktop backgrounds, or how people used media players which turn into tiny widgets displaying pretty visualizations and a little bit of information.
People want widgets, but getting a consistent design that many people will use without introducing so much complexity that most people will never bother is hard.
My suspicion is that it has nothing to do with what users want, it's just a way to sell ad space essentially. I mean right now my "Widgets", which I never open, evidently has a bunch of news sites I never look at, coupons, some casual games I have no interest in. It's basically a bunch of ads pretending to be a feature
The problem becomes that A) people really want different presentations of information, B) something tiny and satisfying in the corner isn't as easy to justify as a big improvement, even if it is, as a big flashy thing, and C) some people get very upset at anything doing this at all.
Look at how people got super excited about active desktop backgrounds, or how people used media players which turn into tiny widgets displaying pretty visualizations and a little bit of information.
People want widgets, but getting a consistent design that many people will use without introducing so much complexity that most people will never bother is hard.