• AdAge, Monday, December 1, 2008 10:45 AM

Bob Garfield expends nearly 4,000 words this week on advertising widgets, downloadable software applications that sit on a users desktop until certain predefined conditions are met -- let's say the fare between two cities hits a threshold low -- and the downloader is dinged with the news. Or take InStyle's Hollywood Hair Makeover widget, which allows users to superimpose the coiffures of Jennifer Aniston or Cameron Diaz on their own photos.

Widgets are underutilized and they're cheap to employ. That's really all you need to know but, as usual, Garfield provides an entertaining ride with some great lines. Here's a mere sampling:

* "The widget may not be the holy grail, but it's arguably pretty damn grail-ish."

* "Branded widgets are the refrigerator magnets of the Brave New World."

* "What funnel cakes are to cuisine, free fly swatters are to marketing. In a digital world, advertising specialties are as analog as you can possibly get."

To be sure, there is an OTOH side to the story. And "then there is the Great Widgetry Schism, a fundamental philosophical difference among users and developers as to what the technology is best suited for."

When it comes to great philosophical divides, I throw in the towel; you'll just have to read Garfield in the original.

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