Ubiquity and the Web

Yesterday, some random surfing led me to Ubiquity, a new Firefox extension that promises to “connect the Web with language.” I’ve tried it, and I can say that that description doesn’t even begin to cover it.

The video explains this better than I could. But I’ll try anyway. This changes the way people interact with the Internet. Using a keyboard shortcut to open the Ubiquity menu, you can then create and insert maps (of a selected text, or of an arbitrary location), search Wikipedia without opening a new window, translate text on the fly, edit a page even without a text input box, and then e-mail the whole mess to a contact.

Regrettably, it doesn’t seem to play nice with WordPress just yet. I had planned to show off a map I made using Ubiquity, but no such luck.

Even still–this is a fantastic tool that I’ve been unable to stop playing with for the past 24 hours. (Yes, yes, I did sleep. For a reasonable amount of time.)

What implications this has for journalism, I don’t know. 21st-century journalism is focused on a provider delivering information across multiple platforms, and Ubiquity is about individuals customizing the way they receive information. (Incidentally, even though WordPress allows ctrl-i to italicize words in a post, just for the heck of it I italicized these words using Ubiquity’s “italicize” command.)

On further thought, one way I can see this instantly being helpful is for journalists themselves, not our audience. The Washington Post has a feature called “Road Trip.” It’s pretty cool. It’s essentially a list of places to go along a route, with a map showing where each place is, how to get there, and why you want to go. Very cool. I imagine the art department spends a lot of time on these maps, making them look nice. But what if users could create their own map on the fly, adding their own annotations to the Post’s, changing the route if they’d rather skip an attraction (or if it’s closed weekends, or if it’s only a brunch restaurant and the visitor wants to go for dinner), and then save the map or e-mail it to a friend? And it just starts there.

This extension is in alpha right now so it’s not ready for the mainstream. (Though as many have pointed out, it sure is stable for an alpha!) But in a few years when Ubiquity or something like it is –ahem–ubiquitous, the Web is gonna be entirely changed.