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    A brief history of widgets

    A brief history of widgets

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    iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite are making widgets a thing again. Here's what came before.

    By Josh Lowensohn

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    A brief history of widgets

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    Apple Desk Accessories (1984)
    Apple’s desk accessories were originally called desk ornaments, and were created by founding Mac team member Andy Hertzfeld off an idea from fellow early Apple employee Bud Tribble. The goal was to get single-purpose apps like a calculator, clock, puzzle game, sticky note, and control panel for various settings. In a time when the Mac could only handle one application at a time, these smaller apps were designed to be super lightweight and single-serving in their nature. Hertzfeld has a detailed narrative on how the original feature came to be on Folklore. (James Friend)