August 27th, 2008
Mozilla shows off Ubiquity: Mashups for the rest of us
Mozilla Labs introduced Ubiquity, an experiment that would allow users to create mashups at will without any advance knowledge.
The game plan for Ubiquity, still in its early stages, is to allow users to control the browser by searching on something in real English and then connecting the dots with existing APIs (Techmeme). In other words, the rest of us can create mashups and extend the browser easily.
Mozilla describes a simple map meets email mashup and notes:
Most people do not have an easy way to manage the vast resources of the Web to simplify their task at hand. For the most part they are left trundling between web sites, performing common tasks resulting in frustration and wasted time.
Mozilla Labs has a prototype and tutorial posted and I plan on taking it for a spin later to see if it really is idiot proof (I qualify).
Update: As you take Ubiquity for a spin you’ll find it relatively easy to play around with. The real takeaway for now is that Ubiquity is more of a command line browser than anything at the moment. Rafe Needleman at Webware also has an interesting take on how applications like Ubiquity are really about fracturing Web content. As a result, Web designers will have to make their content more modular so it can be plucked off by users.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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