It's great to see the widget market getting so hot! I was in early with my blogging toolkit, now everybody's in the game. I wonder if some of these are true "widgets" (plug in anywhere with simple script a novice can use, interactive, live updating, multi-user, etc) or are just glorified links back to Amazon. Looks like it's a little of both -- you can have as much fun as you want, as long as it has to do with some kind of Amazon product! LOL. Not sure the name fits, perhaps Adget might be better.
"... It's great to see the widget market getting so hot! I was in early with my blogging toolkit, now everybody's in the game. I wonder if some of these are true "widgets" (plug in anywhere with simple script a novice can use, interactive, live updating, multi-user, etc) or are just glorified links back to Amazon ..."
Do you think this is Amazons way of getting more people to consume their data (or users own data). They have API access for developers are widgets really just a consumable tool to do the same thing for non programmers?
Yes. I think this is blatant advertising. They should at least try to mix in a little more direct value to the consumer. If I want to browse Amazon, why would I want to do it from a litle widget (or Adget)? It's just a dressed-up ad. What's the value to the consumer (ignoring the Amazon referral system for a moment) to stick with one advertiser on their blog? Google AdWords makes more sense -- at least it is contextual (and presumably competitive)
To me, a widget is a platform for plug-and-play generic web functionality. The emphasis is on, yes, building a platform. (It's a platform! Egads!) Seriously -- if you're so vertical you're just an "Amazon" widget, you're just a one-note band. There's so much more that can be done, and my bet is that consumers are going to want more, not less, choices out of the same widget. You only have so much space on your site, right?
