Scobleizer - Latest Comments in Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Ari Herzog — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:15:33 -0000

I'm curious why you suggest Ubiquity and products like it currently out and those in development to launch in the future aren't intended for "non-passionate internet users."

The popular opinion looking at the future of the internet (or whatever we're going to call it in 10+ years) is that everything without a digital signature today will be connected by then. So, someone won't be given the choice of a red pill or a blue pill but be asked to choose to live within the world or live in a bubble.

Rather than suggesting this product is for a segment of society, wouldn't you be better regarded (and the product receive greater support) if everyone embraced it and not a passionate few?

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Andy Freeman — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:55:16 -0000

Yawn. Emacs did this years ago.

No, emacs doesn't handle images all that well, but given all the other things that it does (browsing was just a minor add-in) ....

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Thomas Beek — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:01:32 -0000

The mail functionality did not work. I use Firefox 3.x on a Mac OS X (Leopard). I type in "mail this to amy" and it does not find her in my contacts, or anyone else for that matter. Also, since installing Ubiquity I am no longer logged-in to my Google Bookmarks. Arg!

I REALLY rely on my Google Bookmarks, so bye-bye Ubiquity until this bug is fixed.

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

erich13 — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:32:14 -0000

Also, a browser addon called Hyperwords adds this hypertexting feature of ActiveWords to web pages, and Hyperwords is authoring a Windows version also.

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

erich13 — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:31:05 -0000

ActiveWords is a built-in in Mac OS X, using Cmd-spacebar to initiate.

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Blake — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:09:15 -0000

I don't understand how this is much different from something like Quicksilver or Butler.

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

HansVB [MSFT] — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:04:32 -0000

Office also faced the challenge of giving access to too many commands through one UI. They developed the ribbon.
This is just another way to try to overcome the same challenge.
I prefer an idea like accelerators in IE8 more but I can understand that some people will prefer a keyboard driven command center.
There have always been those who like to click and those who prefered typing.

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Thomas — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:53:58 -0000

Thanks for the Ubiquity tip. I am a passionate and will look into it!

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Brent — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:28:02 -0000

Please do not encourage Microsoft to buy Active Words. That will be the end of innovation for Active Words. Do you really want a VistaActiveWords? Really? No, really????!!!!!

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Yoshi — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:49:29 -0000

Microsoft could make Activewords by themselve if they want but they do not want to destroy the utility market. And Activewords look very Windows 95.

Yoshio

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

sarahlane22 — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:24:38 -0000

I love firefox I would never use anything else!

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Michael — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:03:50 -0000

Hi Dawn - actually, that makes a lot of sense, thank you - good examples :) I think it could be 'interest-based' - I like food, but wouldn't want to read a gardening manual (can't I just put the seeds in the ground?). Similarly, I'd rather watch the news on TV than read it in a newspaper. But - if I bought a new PC game, I'd happily read the manual - and it actually puts me off buying when a game doesn't come with one (yes, thank you The Witcher team. Enormous RPG, manual in .pdf. Well done, you've spoiled it all).

So I don't think 'passionate / nonpassionate' is a suitable term either. And I don't think it's geek / nongeek either (I still think geek has offensive connotations here in the UK) because that also still implies technology, and I think we're looking at something wider.

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Jay Cuthrell — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:36:14 -0000

Robert,

I'm re-posting from that train wreck over at Mashable. That's my last comment over there for a while. My comments on the video will go to your pay gig website shortly.

So... [snip]

Somewhere along the way, you became and are now a meta-reference (like it or not). [theme song to Fame plays softly in the background]

The passionate vs. non-passionate thing just made lose my patience with all of this when is was sucked into a Ubiquity discussion.

My take on it was that it was "Ubiquity is like Greasemonkey and Quicksilver and Enso all put into a blender with a shot of Mozilla protein powder. Slick!" [1]

http://twitter.com/qthrul/sta tuses/900109207

I know a lot of very passionate users that don't use Firefox. Yes. Shocking. They use Safari. They use IE. Opera! Yet, they still manage to run circles around most of what you appear to classify as "non-passionates".

People that are mono-thinker-platform tend to be asses when they are viewed by the larger community. We all know one. Heck, we might be one in certain areas. It's a bit like snobbery but uniquely finicky and frankly... (p)assionate.

-Jay

[1] I too am prone to assery.

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Marcus — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:29:03 -0000

FYI: the new feature in IE8 formally known as "Activities" has been renamed to "Accelerators."

Here's the new add-on site: http://www.ieaddons.com/en/...

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Arjun Singh — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:21:03 -0000

I started to hear the buzz about ubiquity earlier today on twitter. Ok, so I read some of the blog posts and web pages about it. It sounded really interesting. Then I thought to myself, how powerful my iphone is, and how easy it generally is to use. And I put my ubiquity research on hold and went on with my busy, passionate life. Ubiquity might have a lot of uses for me, and I am probably shooting myself in the foot for not trying it, but dont want to spend the time. Maybe thats human nature, maybe thats just waiting to see if it comes back on to my radar again.

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Smare Johannson — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:35:24 -0000

> Why hasn’t Microsoft purchased ActiveWords?

Come one, I appreciate that you feel the constant need to support your Activewords buddy but you can answer that one to yourself as you worked for Microsoft:

Activewords has not a single useful patent, it has not a single unique idea and there are and were dozens of programs which do/did the same before and are even free or open-source. Microsoft could do such thing in a snap if they really want to. There would be no value in a acquisition.

Examples?

1. PhraseExpress (My favourite. The video demo is a must: http://www.phraseexpress.co... )

2. Autohotkey (Open Source and kind of geeky but very powerful scripting for the tekkies)

3. Direct Accelerator (Smart .NET user interface but a memory hog)

4. Ghost Typer XML ...

5. Launchy for the program launcher part

And so on.

Ubiquity looks fancy in the video but I doubt that users will find the right trigger words to do what they want to do. You need to know exactly what you 'can' type but I will certainly check it out at v0.9 :-)

Smare from Sweden

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Terri Barrons — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:22:44 -0000

The simple fact is that Ubiquity merely brings a stripped down version of the functionality of applications like Launchy or Find and Run Robot to the browser.

There is nothing new about a command-line launcher. They've been around for years. And 90% of what Ubiquity is promising can be accomplished with tools that are already available.

Ubiquity users are Early Adopters? Hardly. More like just catching on.

BTW: Acting like an ill-informed snob is not the same thing as being passionate. (Besides, we have Penn Gillette anytime we want to listen to that sort of nonsense.)

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Troy Malone — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:57:23 -0000

This is like looking at the first model-A. Something big is happening here. At first blush, it is not that impressive or a big event, but I do see this in the next few years becoming a major thing. Someone will come along and connect the dots with regard to the interface and make it into something that people will use.

It reminds me of the mouse. At first, the mouse was a weird device that only a few people used. "how could you not use the keyboard for everything?" was the word of the day...here we go again. I am excited...

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

francine hardaway — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:42:49 -0000

So I tried it, and I think it will be very useful. I'm a passionate, but I'm an average geek looking for the useful, rather than the uber geek who will adopt anything. I can see how this might really produce material that's useful for the person who receives it rather than just fun for the person who creates it.

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Pete Weldon — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:54:52 -0000

OK, Buzz is "Mr. Outside" for ActiveWords but I am compelled to speak here.

First, ActiveWords is truly ubiquitous, not “Ubiquity for Firefox.” ActiveWords provides system wide functionality that acts on text entry (and stylus/fingertip entry on Tablet/UMPC now, and hopefully voice in the future).

Second, many have tried to set up fixed word – action “languages” but almost no users have made the investment to adopt them. ActiveWords offers each user the opportunity to define their own word – action relationships using their vocabulary and innate ability to name things. For those needing a fixed structure, ActiveWords can be locked down to fix these relationships for sets of users.

Third, how do these user defined word – action relationships fit together? The preferred answer is based on the personal semantic preferences of each user. ActiveWords allows the user to use the same ActiveWord for multiple actions and multiple ActiveWords for the same action. Over time, the user self organizes these semantic relationships.

Fourth, ActiveWords is extensible. It includes agent technology allowing third parties to create actions and suggested semantics (ActiveWords) to trigger events. Creating an ActiveWord agent that interfaces with Google APIs can duplicate everything demonstrated with “Ubiquity for Firefox,” and it can do so independent of a Firefox context (in any context or no context at all). For example, the actions of sending an email to Bob and inserting a Google map of a particular address can be triggered by one or more ActiveWords whenever the user thinks of it, not just when they are composing a new message in gmail.

Fifth, what if I use multiple computers and grow accustomed to word – action functionality? The ActiveWords personal data store is readily transferable between Windows computers and will someday be “in the cloud,” ready whenever you are on whatever computing device you happen to be using at the moment.

We continue to hope that projects such as “Ubiquity for Firefox” will spread the power and gospel of the word – action interface, ActiveWords. The productivity implications are important. The less time you are “computing” the more opportunity you have to create something of value.

Pete Weldon
ActiveWord Systems, Inc.
www.activewords.com

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

dccrowley — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:37:17 -0000

I am taking every chance I get to show Ubiquity to anyone who cares to see it. That is for me a litmus test that it's amazingly useful.

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

davidgeller — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:23:35 -0000

Ubiquity looks impressive. I like your mention of ActiveWords too. Conceivably, ActiveWords would let you build Ubquity-like experiences across all our apps - not just FF, but IE, Outlook, etc. You're right too about suggesting MSFT buy them. It makes so much sense for ActiveWords to be a built-in component of Windows that everyone can use. Imagine all the useful things that could be built if everyone had it at their disposal.

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Dawn — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:18:23 -0000

Alan: Maybe you're right, but then again, I'm passionate about ripe tomatoes but I don't grow them myself. And I've known lots of couples who were friends before they became passionate about each other.

Seems to me that to expect passion on the frontend limits products more than they might otherwise need to be. I think Activewords has it right. That's something I'm actually using because of their babysteps approach. They didn't expect me to be passionate immediately. It worked.

I don't like the word "non-passionate" anyway. I'm a very passionate person. It's misleading and would likely offend people outside the tech world. Seems to me that to imply somebody isn't passionate, just because they don't like the kinds of things I like, is a bias seeking an -ism label.

Why can't we just say geek and nongeek. "Geek" is no longer an offensive term, right? Or is it?

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

Alan Le — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:15:45 -0000

I think IE8's Activities feature empowers web developer to empower their sites for their users. Mozilla Ubiquity let the end-users empower themselves. I prefer the later.

@Dawn, I don't think you're "passionate" if you need someone to download, install and show it for you. Passion comes with the initiative and desire to try it yourself. Scoble is right; Ubiquity is not for what he refers to as "non-passionate" people.

Re: Mozilla gives the passionates one with Ubiquity

wavey davie — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:08:19 -0000

I love what Ubiquity does, even though I haven't downloaded it. I tried earlier when I found some time but found out I needed FF3. So out went FF2 and now I'm downloading Ubiquity. Sounds like I'm a non-passionate doesn't it? I like to think I'm a passionate but with OCD and a bad memory problem it just never seems to work out :-(