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3 Reasons Firefox Ubiquity is Useless to Most Users

by Josh Kenzer on August 29th, 2008

Ubiquity is the latest Firefox add-on created by the folks at Mozilla Labs. The add on lets users interact with various web services through a command line interface. If you’ve used Quicksilver for the Mac, you’re familiar with the concept. It’s very much inline with the *nix philosophy of many small programs that do their respective tasks well and which can be chained together to get bigger more complex tasks done.

For most readers of this blog, myself included, this is a great new power tool. It’s a brilliant implementation and has worked flawlessly for me so far. But for the other 90%-95% of web users, it’s completely worthless. Here’s why:

  • You have to use a keyboard shortcut to start it. How many non-geeks do you know who can even use the keyboard shortcuts for cut and paste?
  • You have to remember specific commands. In order to use it effectively, you need to memorize at least the commands you want to use regularly. Most user’s can remember where to find the options or preferences settings in most applications.
  • You get a scary security warning when installing new commands…which is awesome. It’s there for a reason. Most’s users won’t understand what this warning is telling them, so they either won’t install new commands, or they will install bad malicious commands.

It’s a great tool and I love it. But with all the possitive press, there needs to be a reality check on the true importance of Ubiquity. Think of mouse gestures and find as you type. Awesome, awesome features to the few who utilize them.

From Internet

  • Forget about the non geeks. The world will pass them by.
  • Professor Pickle
    you're f!#@king retard
  • He isn't really. He didn't say "Why Ubiquity is Useless." All the things he said are true about the average person that's online. I don't really see a need for the post, but it isn't /wrong/.
  • Josh Kenzer
    I love to have my intelligence insulted by someone who can't form a proper sentence. LOL
  • I do believe you're being trolled.
  • Rob
    What's the purpose of this post? C and Python are useless to most users also so are you going to write an article about that, too? How about IEs Developer Toolbar?

    So I guess Professor Pickle is right.
  • Josh Kenzer
    The purpose of this post is simple. While Ubiquity is powerful, most users won't be proficient enough to use it.
  • Breadcultist
    These issues seem mostly easy to solve.
    1. There could be a clickable button.
    2. The options/cues that appear when you start typing are already very helpful. Before you type anything it could show a cloud of available commands. Fortunately it's in kinda natural language too. But that might make it harder to translate...
    3. Hm. Perhaps have a trustworthy official repository, like for Firefox extensions.
    Long days and pleasant nights,
    Jason
  • Josh Kenzer
    Those are some great idea. The extension is only version 0.1 so there is a ton of room for improvement.
  • david
    1. selecting a text and right clicking gives you a ubiquity itemin the context menu with all your commands.

    2. By clicking the commands from context menu many times they are going to stick after a while, not?

    One thing i would like to see is an option to change the command names.
    Before ubiquity i used bookmarks and did ctrl+l g for example. With ubiquity i have to do ctrl+space google.
    I know i can edit the javascript file but how many people are prepared to do this?
  • WyrdestGeek
    You should not be so quick to judge. I totally agree with you that, at this time, the average user would not/should not/could not be using Ubiquity.

    BUT WHO CARES!?

    The darn thing is still in, like, beta or alpha or something.

    The game-stage right now is to see if Ubiquity can take off (among *geeks*) over the next year or so. *IF* (I stress _if_) it does, then the good folks that developed it, and the (geek) community created around it should have no trouble shaving down the edges to the point that there can be a Ubiquity For The Rest Of Us... (or them).

    At which point, of course, all of the members of the Set of People That Always Complain will gripe that they've "dumbed down" Ubiquity.

    There are some people that are never pleased no matter what.

    I think Ubiquity is cool.

    --
    Furry cows moo and decompress.
  • WyrdestGeek
    Addendum:
    I apologize for being ranty previously.

    Yes, you are probably correct that Ubiquity will never, ever be of use to the average user. Still, that's no reason to rain on the parade for the rest of us.

    One way to look at this: This is an opportunity for the command line to make something of a come-back. IMHO, a long over-due one. (Now I don't see the CLI ever coming back as the User's primary means of interfacing with the computer because that'd just be insane. I mean, for one thing, icons look prettier, so they'll always win out over plain text. :-) ) Still, this is a chance for the command-line to "get back in the game" as it were.

    Why should we care about that?
    Well, let me use an analogy: TV is to the GUI as book are to the CLI. eh? :-)
    I mean, TV is simpler, but less flexible. It's always more eye-catching, but the experience uses less of your brain. By contrast, the book require greater attention and effort, but you can get more out of it. Ultimately (and importantly), while a CLI tends to have a steeper learning curve, once you achieve proficiency with it, you can move mountains (or at least whole folders full of similarly named files) with just a few choice wildcards). Meanwhile, in GUI land, you'll forever have to be precisely and carefully dragging and dropping*.


    * Yeah, I know, you can probably find counter-examples. Maybe I didn't make a great argument, I dunno. YMMV. Live long and prosper. May you be touched by His Noodly appendage. Hail Eris.

    --
    Furry cows moo and decompress.
  • Dave Pearce
    I have to agree with the comments, Firefox is a great tool, but at the same time its useless to most users. I use firefox and IE. What I will say for firefox is that it has made microsoft make vast improvements to IE and hopefully they will make a few more. The average user doesn't like forefox and many who do use it, don't know how to utilize its features and simply use it because they think its cool to do so. Firefox is a great but it does need to look at the other 95% of people who are non tech and haven't a clue
  • yes, useless to dummies but useful to the wired ones
  • I use it, and its really a great plugin.
  • I really like this plugin. It is still new and there is much room for improvement.
  • sbs
    Keep up the excellent work! Your website helps to keep me from boredom as well.
  • Agreed, there arent many people who are well versed in scripting language well enough to use command line as their main interface
  • I really like this plugin. It is still new and there is much room for improvement.
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