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Have you ever marveled at the wonderful technological gadgets used in futuristic films, where the James Bonds of 2060 are guided through the geographical, social, cultural, and political facets of the territory which they are about to invade by the charming voice of a machine? Well, here is the new, post-reading Wikipedia for you: QWiki.
The idea is simple – and straight out to the movies. Instead of reading through long paragraphs of textual information, which some might find strenuous, you listen to the narration of a smart lady who gives you all the essentials. Meanwhile, you get to enjoy some animated pictures and videos to visualize the content.
Qwiki is a startup founded in 2009 in the Facebook-City of Palo Alto. It earned some early fame in tech circles by winning the TechCrunch Disrupt startup competition in September 2010. Today, they have provided millions of search terms with compact multimedia sequences. The computer voice reads out key points and information and illustrates them with photos, diagrams and maps. The result is a short presentation, usually less than a minute, which provides a handy overview of the relevant term or subject. Qwiki gets its content mostly from the “usual suspects,” including Wikipedia, Google Maps, and Fotopedia Wikimedia Commons.
Although Qwiki is not a bad way to look up something on your PC, I’ve always preferred the direct visit to Wikipedia – quickly skim through a concept explained in writing, understand the details necessary for your work. The problem with the stripped-down Qwiki slideshow is that it might exclude precisely the aspect to which I need detailed background information.
However, the situation quite differently on an iPad for which the newest app was released just this April: Here, efficiency and productivity are less important, instead fun, visual delight and visual experience matter. Here, the Qwiki approach fits much better. It is a product to watch and a site to enjoy. Have fun.
