Greasemonkey
mozdev.org - greasemonkey: index
I have to say, Greasemonkey is one of the best additions to browsing that I have seen in a very, very long time. Websites become a start to the user experience, not the user experience. Don't think the layout is correct on a website? Fix it. Don't think they provide enough usability? Fix it. Like to include searches from other sites? Add it.
Simon Wilson has a great article on the impact and etiquette of greasemonkey.
I have been preaching about the power of open api's to allow people to build their own experiences on the web -- flickr has great examples of this. Companies that publish api's on the net can allow users to add to their service while holding key parts of the puzzle together, ensuring that consumers continue to use their service.
For example, Flickr provides tools to put your pictures on your own website, not yours. They also opened the api to allow people to generate their own apps on top of flickr. However, they still manage the data and the pictures. Users continually go back to the service to publish new pictures, add friends, browse others pictures. The opening of their system did not limit the users or pages that were browsed - it increases them.
Imagine if Friendster, back when everyone was hot about them, created widgets that showed friends and allowed you to link to friends blogs from their own blog. Imagine if they had an open api that allowed you to browse friends and pull down testimonials. Imagine if testimonials and comments on your blog could be tied together through that api.
I would offer that friendster would still be used by those of us who are tired of it. Instead of a place that I have to go to read and browse, which now is a hassle (and hence why I don't -- well, that and I have a girlfriend), Friendster would manage the relationships between people -- which is what it was intended to do. The standard links on the sidebars of blogs would be replaced with a service managed by friendster. Users would consistently go back to add friends, remove friends, look for additional contacts. It would be an AMAZING service -- one that I would probably use again.
Wow..started with Greasemonkey and ended up speaking about the possibility of companies opening their doors and empowering users. Guess that is my mindset lately!
I have to say, Greasemonkey is one of the best additions to browsing that I have seen in a very, very long time. Websites become a start to the user experience, not the user experience. Don't think the layout is correct on a website? Fix it. Don't think they provide enough usability? Fix it. Like to include searches from other sites? Add it.
Simon Wilson has a great article on the impact and etiquette of greasemonkey.
I have been preaching about the power of open api's to allow people to build their own experiences on the web -- flickr has great examples of this. Companies that publish api's on the net can allow users to add to their service while holding key parts of the puzzle together, ensuring that consumers continue to use their service.
For example, Flickr provides tools to put your pictures on your own website, not yours. They also opened the api to allow people to generate their own apps on top of flickr. However, they still manage the data and the pictures. Users continually go back to the service to publish new pictures, add friends, browse others pictures. The opening of their system did not limit the users or pages that were browsed - it increases them.
Imagine if Friendster, back when everyone was hot about them, created widgets that showed friends and allowed you to link to friends blogs from their own blog. Imagine if they had an open api that allowed you to browse friends and pull down testimonials. Imagine if testimonials and comments on your blog could be tied together through that api.
I would offer that friendster would still be used by those of us who are tired of it. Instead of a place that I have to go to read and browse, which now is a hassle (and hence why I don't -- well, that and I have a girlfriend), Friendster would manage the relationships between people -- which is what it was intended to do. The standard links on the sidebars of blogs would be replaced with a service managed by friendster. Users would consistently go back to add friends, remove friends, look for additional contacts. It would be an AMAZING service -- one that I would probably use again.
Wow..started with Greasemonkey and ended up speaking about the possibility of companies opening their doors and empowering users. Guess that is my mindset lately!
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