"To start working toward an answer, I compared three eCommerce sites: Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Amazon.com....

Because it is the homepage that carries the most responsibility for guiding customers, I examined the homepages of all three sites from a number of years, using screenshots from the Web Archive4....

I looked at criteria such as the type and size of layout, the type and amount of navigation, the amount of images and text, and functionality specific to the industry....

Conclusions:

• All three sites use very long screens to display content on their homepages.
• All three sites evolved to use three-column layouts.
• Amazon has consistently placed more links above the fold.
• Through the years, the density of links on Borders.com was half of that on Barnes and Noble or Amazon.
• Amazon communicates using images and links rather than text descriptions.
• All sites eventually included navigation targeted at specific audiences.
• Invitations to subscribe to an email newsletter were offered inconsistently.

Many design elements on these websites are reminiscent of physical store layout, an approach to web design we should investigate further. Like physical stores, those designs should only change gradually to keep visitors buying." [Boxes and Arrows, via bOing bOing]

This article is part of the inaugural collection at Boxes and Arrows, a new online journal about information architecture in the digital environment. Definitely one to follow, although I wish they were syndicating their content.

What I'd like to see next is a study of how web-based library catalogs are changing to emulate the above design conventions and how systems like III's Millennium, SIRSI's iBistro, and epixtech's iPac are faring. Obviously we don't want all aspects of Amazon's site, but surely we can examine it for what could be applicable in our online world. Is there anything here we should emulate for library web sites in general?

See Steve Coffman for other thoughts on Amazon and library catalogs (right or wrong).

The folks at MeFi are reacting to the VKB Virtual Keyboard that projects the keys onto a surface. They're proposing some interesting uses of the technology in other areas.

• "One of the best parts about it is instant keyboards changes; switching to Dvorak would no longer require prying off all of one's keys and moving them about, not to mention switching to other languages."
• "If they could make a mode that would toggle the keyboard LEDs to a barcode reader, that'd truly rock."
• "Mark my words, the most awe inspiring byproduct of this: the virtual piano keyboard."
• "i want a tiny computer that projects the keyboard out one side and the video out the other, in color. that would be great, someone start working on that :) "
• "Okay- I'm going to geek out a bit here... This could revolutionise gaming interfaces. Forget hitting "T" to target, needing to learn weird keyboard shortcuts every time you pick up a new game. Currently, the disparity between the controls on screen and on desk is high. This technology could eradicate that. For example, in a space sim, just project the cockpit button layout on the desk."

One thing most people haven't noted about the VKB product is that it can also project a mousepad.

So what could this mean for libraries? I like the idea of changing languages on the spot for any patron at any PC. Maybe this could be used with tablet PCs or PDAs for instant, mobile training labs. The "tiny computer that projects the keyboard out one side adn the video out the other" would be particularly well-suited for this. With something like that, you could stand up a piece of 17" posterboard and project onto it as the monitor. Talk about portable!

On a side note, most people are pleasantly surprised when they first see the pictures of this because they didn't know someone was working on this type of technology. The same will hold true for ebooks. Someday, someone will come out of nowhere with a device or technology that will make them better. That's why I say we shouldn't write off ebooks as a bad technology. It's only bad right now.