How many ways can you search Google?
Obviously, I’m a fan of widgets. Although I only use a select few, on the whole I really do think that a large percentage of widgets are neat and fun.
Going beyond neat and fun, are useful widgets. Each time a widget is released there is the question of usefulness. Once it is determined that the widget is useful, is the widget a convenient way to “get to” that usage. Boy that was a confusing sentence.
In short, how many ways can we search Google? The Google widget (pictured below), is extremely useful. Type in a search term, hit enter, boom - millions of pages of content dealing with that topic.
The Google Widget
However, is the Google widget the most convenient way to search Google? Is it the best means to the end result? I don’t think so. The Google Widget is probably the least convenient way to search Google unless you’re actually inside of Dashboard. The obvious “winner” for convenience is searching from within the browser.
But, I think there is an even faster way - context menus. Right (or control) clicking on a word within the browser, an email message, and almost any Macintosh native application will give you the ability to “Search in Google”. That is an extremely quick way to search Google, since you don’t even need to type in the search term. It’s even faster than copy/paste. I’d like to see widgets adding this ability via a single click. Term searching, instead of a widget that just ends up opening the browser anyway.
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I don’t search google no more. If it’s info I head to wikipedia. If it’s a specific site I go to del.icio.us. The only thing Google is still useful for is web based email and looking up images.
Tommy on March 1st, 2006 5:39 pm
As you put it, the widget is only useful if you’re within dashboard. And so you have to consider if spending the ram is worth it for the few times you will use it, or if you actually use dashboard.
The context menu idea is good, and i would love to see it.
Josue Salazar on March 1st, 2006 11:44 pm
I find that Quicksilver, which is already running, is better at getting to Google and searching than the overhead of another widget.
Widgets have their uses IMHO, but just because something can be made into a widget, doesn’t mean it has to be. I mean, take the iTunes widget. Why? why not just use iTunes itself (or Quicksilver as I do)?
I’ve pared my widget list right down:
- Processor and Battery temperature
- Weather
- Multiple clocks for different timezones.
- GarageSale widget when I have auctions on eBay.
abizer on March 2nd, 2006 9:42 am
Abizer: I hope you have a clock in my time zone!
And I agree with everything else you are saying too.
Colin D. Devroe on March 2nd, 2006 9:48 am
Colin: Philly was the closest I could get!
Abizer on March 2nd, 2006 5:27 pm
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I search Google with Scroogle: Google without the downsides…
http://www.scroogle.org
ABCGi on March 7th, 2006 12:48 pm