Comments on: Death of the Address Bar http://timwhitlock.info/blog/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/ Tim Whitlock's personal site and blog Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:28:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Predictions for 2013 | timwhitlock.info http://timwhitlock.info/blog/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-4753 Predictions for 2013 | timwhitlock.info Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:22:58 +0000 http://web.2point1.com/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-4753 [...] said it before and I’ll say it again: the URI is on its way out as a way for normal people to interact with [...] [...] said it before and I’ll say it again: the URI is on its way out as a way for normal people to interact with [...]

]]> By: tim http://timwhitlock.info/blog/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-4332 tim Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:25:52 +0000 http://web.2point1.com/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-4332 Interesting reading this back to myself over a year later. For all my remarks about Microsoft, it seems to be Google making the strongest effort to dumb down the address bar. Chrome hides the http:// except for secure URLs. The URL's host component is black, while the rest of the URL is grey (useful for phishing attacks). And above all, the Google search bar is ALSO the address bar. Typing anything that doesn't match a website into the address bar, defaults to a Google search. Also, with regard to the points about advertising. It seems that "Find us on Facebook" is becoming a default piece of copy for many brands. Interesting reading this back to myself over a year later. For all my remarks about Microsoft, it seems to be Google making the strongest effort to dumb down the address bar.

Chrome hides the http:// except for secure URLs. The URL’s host component is black, while the rest of the URL is grey (useful for phishing attacks). And above all, the Google search bar is ALSO the address bar. Typing anything that doesn’t match a website into the address bar, defaults to a Google search.

Also, with regard to the points about advertising. It seems that “Find us on Facebook” is becoming a default piece of copy for many brands.

]]> By: Did Search kill Del.icio.us? | timwhitlock.info http://timwhitlock.info/blog/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-4321 Did Search kill Del.icio.us? | timwhitlock.info Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:09:54 +0000 http://web.2point1.com/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-4321 [...] wrote some time ago about the Death of the Address Bar (Chrome is doing a good job of proving me right on some of my points). When it comes to bookmarks I [...] [...] wrote some time ago about the Death of the Address Bar (Chrome is doing a good job of proving me right on some of my points). When it comes to bookmarks I [...]

]]> By: Take a cognitive load off | timwhitlock.info http://timwhitlock.info/blog/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-3386 Take a cognitive load off | timwhitlock.info Tue, 16 Nov 2010 02:30:38 +0000 http://web.2point1.com/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-3386 [...] it acts like a Google search too. I imagine the ugly, technical nature of the URL will eventually be hidden completely; you will trust your machine implicitly as to whether a site is legitimate and [...] [...] it acts like a Google search too. I imagine the ugly, technical nature of the URL will eventually be hidden completely; you will trust your machine implicitly as to whether a site is legitimate and [...]

]]> By: Matt King http://timwhitlock.info/blog/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-78 Matt King Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:47:27 +0000 http://web.2point1.com/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-78 The names escape me right now, but I recall at least 2 movie posters that simply had “Google ” instead of a URL. I’m guessing that this is probably due to most movies having pretty generic titles when converted to a URL (and therefore have probably already been registered). If a URL <em>is</em> used there seems to be a convention of [moviename]themovie.com which obviously gets a bit clumsy with longer film titles. The Google methodology works well for films due to their limited marketing life-span (the same for your optician anecdote), but I can’t see it becoming the norm for site visiting. Looking to the future though, with touch-screens becoming more prolific I wonder if we’ll see a move to gestures to visit sites. For example, for the Star Trek movie, “draw a starfleet badge to visit the site“! ;) The names escape me right now, but I recall at least 2 movie posters that simply had “Google ” instead of a URL. I’m guessing that this is probably due to most movies having pretty generic titles when converted to a URL (and therefore have probably already been registered). If a URL is used there seems to be a convention of [moviename]themovie.com which obviously gets a bit clumsy with longer film titles.

The Google methodology works well for films due to their limited marketing life-span (the same for your optician anecdote), but I can’t see it becoming the norm for site visiting.

Looking to the future though, with touch-screens becoming more prolific I wonder if we’ll see a move to gestures to visit sites. For example, for the Star Trek movie, “draw a starfleet badge to visit the site“! ;)

]]> By: Tim http://timwhitlock.info/blog/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-77 Tim Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:41:51 +0000 http://web.2point1.com/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-77 Ta for the links! The TV ads made me think of AOL keywords. The kind of people who think that AOL *is* the internet are exactly the kind of people who would find URLs a nasty, technical thing to be fearful of. Ta for the links!
The TV ads made me think of AOL keywords. The kind of people who think that AOL *is* the internet are exactly the kind of people who would find URLs a nasty, technical thing to be fearful of.

]]> By: andy http://timwhitlock.info/blog/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-76 andy Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:36:11 +0000 http://web.2point1.com/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-76 I think a lot of this makes a lot of sense. I agree with Tokhir though. I too use the address bar mainly for autofill speediness. Makes sense that the http:// etc should go away. Maybe AOL keywords had it right all that time ago ;) Maybe the address bar will disappear until you roll over it. Last bit of rambling. I presume you've seen this too: http://labs.mozilla.com/projects/ubiquity/ http://www.azarask.in/blog/post/ubiquity-in-depth/ I think a lot of this makes a lot of sense.

I agree with Tokhir though. I too use the address bar mainly for autofill speediness.

Makes sense that the http:// etc should go away. Maybe AOL keywords had it right all that time ago ;)

Maybe the address bar will disappear until you roll over it.

Last bit of rambling. I presume you’ve seen this too:

http://labs.mozilla.com/projects/ubiquity/
http://www.azarask.in/blog/post/ubiquity-in-depth/

]]> By: Tokhir Dadaev http://timwhitlock.info/blog/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-75 Tokhir Dadaev Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:49:09 +0000 http://web.2point1.com/2009/04/26/death-of-the-address-bar/#comment-75 This is exactly what I have been pondering lately. But I would not say the address bar should disappear completely, it should get smarter. Like in Mozilla I type map and it takes me to http://maps.google.com/ bbc and it takes me to http://www.bbc.co.uk/ wiki and it takes me to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Maybe the address bar should not display http, .com, www...etc, but only the name of the website: the address bar is the new header of the website? This is exactly what I have been pondering lately. But I would not say the address bar should disappear completely, it should get smarter.

Like in Mozilla I type
map and it takes me to http://maps.google.com/
bbc and it takes me to http://www.bbc.co.uk/
wiki and it takes me to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Maybe the address bar should not display http, .com, http://www…etc, but only the name of the website: the address bar is the new header of the website?

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