Viewzi`s Various Views of Search - Going Shopping
(Page 2 of 4 )
What if I'm working on a steampunk costume and decide it would be cheaper for me to buy brass goggles rather than try to make them? It's time to use the everyday shopping view. I honestly think this view will be very popular with anyone who shops online. It searches Amazon, eBay, Target and Wal-Mart, and puts them all on one screen.
Clicking on one of these four images zooms it to the whole screen, so you can see individual products and prices. Clicking on a product once you've zoomed in takes you to the URL where you can buy it or bid on it. You can easily zoom back out by clicking on empty space. Here's a screen shot where I've zoomed in on eBay; notice the arrows on either side that let me shift to zoomed-in versions of the other online shopping destinations.
So, if I'm putting together a steampunk costume for a science fiction masquerade contest, is there any music available that might enhance my presentation? Given the most common era for steampunk stories, “Victorian music” would make for a good search. Here's what you get with the album view:
The bar just below the phrase “Victorian Music” at the upper left lets you zoom in or out to see larger or smaller versions of the album covers. Hovering over the images gives you green tool tips with the titles of the albums. Not enough information? You'll have to be quick, then, because just for a second when you hover you'll get a bouncing green bar that says “More/Buy.” When you click on “More,” you get more information about the album – quite possibly enough to tell whether it's suitable for your purposes. Here's an example:
Again, I'm really sorry I had to resize this, because it's very readable in the original. You can scroll through the titles of the songs on the album, and buy it from Amazon. Clicking on the “Buy Album” button takes you directly to the album's page on the online retailer's web site.
If you want to listen to some music, try the MP3 view. You'll need to be more specific than I was in the album view; a search for “Victorian Music” didn't turn up anything for me, but “The Greatest American Hero” turned up the appropriate TV theme song. Along with the title and source (where known), you get the playing time and a clickable arrow that lets you play the MP3 right from the search results.
This might be a good view to use in conjunction with the album view to discover music you might like. Start with the album view to do a general search; then, when you find out enough to pique your interest, choose a few tracks from the album to search for using the MP3 view, so you can actually listen to the music.
Next: How Does Google Compare? >>
More Search Engine News Articles
More By Terri Wells
