I stumbled upon a somewhat unusual post on an SEO company's blog.  The author, Ben Finklea, (presumably an employee of Volacci, whose site the post appears on) provides an interesting, colorful look at widgets:

"Oh, the opportunity of online, driven by digital, but what wonderful ways to win their attention can we communicate carefully? Why, what about the widget? A whatsit?! A widget is just like those pesky pens, those magical magnets that have been done digitally. These compact, portable little software applications, from video players to countdown clocks, are inexpensive to use and always delivering the ad message. A magical connection between the marketer and the consumer, not only replacing the keychain but drastically outperforming it. Have you heard that airline’s ‘DING!’ like Pavlov’s dog to millions of wanderers? Face it, there are 500 million socially-networked marketing consumers who gaze 1,200 times a month at their screen, generously generating 600 billion basic opportunities for your widget to wedge itself into their money-spending memories."

What do you think of his widget "poetry"?  You can read his full post here.