Widgets on a Slate

I've written extensively about the utility of desktop widgets in the past (here, here, and here) but I've been a little disappointed that the uptake by the masses has been less than dramatic. Than again, on reflection, I don't use the widgets I have on my own Mac - ever. I never open up the Dashboard and use the stock quote or wikipedia widgets. I just use my browser. Why? Why haven't these extremely focused, leight-weight applicaitons not been adopted by everyone?

One possibility is that its just as easy to google the information you want or launch an application as it is to launch a widget. But what about desktop widgets like Microsoft Gadgets or Google Desktop which are always up on your desktop? Why haven't these seen more adoption? Why aren't we excited about them? There are two possibilities as I see it: Either they are simply not as useful or the form factor is wrong.

An interesting post on TechCrunch (see video below) shows a concept of using Widgets on the iPad. The combination of widgets and the slate form factor doesn't seem to offer any advantages at first glance. But, if the widgets were on the unlock screen they would be more immediately accessible and useful. Now this won't work on an iPhone because the screen is too small but what about an iPad or other slate computers?

Imagine that when you pull your slate computer (iPad or otherwise) out that the first thing you see before going to the application launch screen are widgets you might want to glance at quickly. A date and time widget is an example. In fact, this widget functionality is already available on the iPhone's unlock screen. When you push the Home Button the unlock screen comes up with your background of choice and the date and time. I frequently glance at this without unlocking the iPhone just to know what time it is.

I suspect that the iPad will work the same way, but what if you could get a variety of information from the unlock screen. For example, if I can glance at my unlock screen and see that I have three emails from this, that and the other person; or if I could see my favorite stocks, or the weather, or wi-fi accessibility. that would all be very useful and I would not need to unlock the screen; I would just glance at the widgets that are already there.

The scope of widgets that would be useful on the unlock screen is fairly limited but like the date and time widget already on the unlock screen, other widgets may be equally as indispensable and frequently used. The widgets would be view only- they wouldn't be interactive because then they would be applications which are more appropriate when accessed from the launch screen. No, they should be configurable - the same way you can set the date and time - but in general they do not provide for interactivity but provide information at a glance. I think this could be really useful if placed appropriately.

Dashboard on iPad from Rich Hong on Vimeo.