WebScissors 2.0
The WebScissors tool was originally created by my friend
Jos Claerbout,
to allow WebTV users to easily import images from the web into their WebScissors scrapbooks.
His original intent was for the tool to be a glorified proof of concept, and for the
functionality to then be included directly into the WebTV service.
Unfortunately, the company never did include the functionality in the service, marketing
decisions being what they are (you can read
Jos'
father's explanation for the full story). Nevertheless, Jos continued to provide the
service independently at the WebScissors.com address, and WebTV users flocked to his banner,
creating a demand of upwards of 30,000 hits per week.
After Jos' tragic and untimely death, I took over maintenance of the project on behalf
of his family. As user demand continued to rise, I decided to make due on my much earlier
offer to Jos to improve the UI of the tool, to make it display more appropriately on the
WebTV screen. While I was at it, I decided to add in the following features:
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Ability to view HTML source code in an editable field.
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Ability to see the same image details that a computer user can see by
right-clicking on he image (URL, width, height, file size, etc).
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Integration with several web-based image editing tools.
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Integration with several transloading tools, which allow images to be
moved to external web site accounts as well as the WebTV Scrapbook.
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A collection of instructions and help files to allow users to troubleshoot
their own issues and reduce the number of support emails the tool receives
each week.
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Automated translation of the tool and related content into six languages
(using Google's language translation engine).
The new WebScissors 2.0 was met with great enthusiasm by the users, and continues
to get upwards of 2500 successful queries per day.
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