…it had Google Reader. Why not just a feed reader? I’ll explain.
If I had to estimate, I’d say that about two-thirds of the reading I do takes place inside Google Reader. And not just my own subscriptions, but also the content shared by others. I get a lot of value from those shared posts because, let’s face it – I don’t have time to sift through thousands of blog posts a day. This is why a plain feed reader just wouldn’t do. Sure, I’d be able to subscribe to and read blogs, but I’d be missing all the shared content and the sense of community I get inside Google Reader.
The Kindle isn’t built for that, at least not yet. Is it great with books? Absolutely. But the blog reading situation needs to be vastly improved for me to even consider buying one and, unless that happens before April 3, I’ll be purchasing a different product instead.
Before the Abuzz iPhone app, there was another Abuzz – a community site run by The New York Times. You can check out a snapshot of the old site here, courtesy of the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
Two things come to mind:
I will never get to own the Abuzz domain – The New York Times still has it on lockdown until 2012 and I doubt they’ll be surrendering it after that.
How ahead of its time was this site?
Launched in 1999, the NYT Abuzz site was “social networking” before sites like Myspace and Facebook took center stage. There was a question/answer format (similar to Yahoo! Answers or Mahalo Answers), a discussion section (which isn’t that original – forums and USENET were around for years) and section for publishing commentary, such as book reviews, reactions to news stories, and so on.
On top of that, the site attempted what many sites are still trying to do today – filter information and deliver only what it thinks will be relevant to you. Pretty amazing stuff.
As you can see here, the site shut down on September 2, 2004, citing limited resources. The fact that the NYT has held on to the domain name long afterwards means they think the domain is a valuable asset (I agree). Do they have plans to utilize it in the future? Who knows. If not, and if anyone at the Times is reading this, I’ll gladly take it off your hands. ;)
I launched Abuzz last Thursday and heard lots of nice things from those who downloaded it. From the bottom of my heart, I thank each and every one of you. :) The app was born out of my own need for it. I actually went into the App Store one day looking for something like it and was astonished that it didn’t exist. So I got to work – mapping out the app and its various features. I brought someone in to put it together and, in three months, I had a finished product.
But I failed to get Abuzz significant coverage, and that is my fault and my fault alone.
Other than Louis Gray’s great write-up, I couldn’t get a single other blog to run with it. That tells me more than anything that the app isn’t as polished as it should be. I had considered pushing out incremental updates, adding features every few weeks, but it’s clear to me now that those would only be bandages on a much bigger wound. So the next iteration of Abuzz to see the light of day will be 2.0 (it will, of course, be released as an update, not as a separate app – I’m not pulling any Tweetie stuff, here).
I’ve listened to feedback and had a lot of great ideas come my way. The interface will get an enormous facelift. The user experience will be vastly improved. The app will stand on its own both as a social media search tool and as a Twitter client. I don’t want to let too much slip, but I’ll say this – I’m going to make sure the app is everything it should be.
Rumor has it that Hulu wants to squeeze more than just ad dollars out of its service. It just so happens that I love kicking these ideas around in my head. Put the two together and, well… here you have it.
If I ran Hulu, I’d charge $4.99 a month to subscribe to a show with ads, $7.99 a month without ads. You’d get the newest shows plus the entire back catalog. And, here’s a biggie – I’d let you watch it on your TV.
Short clips would stay as-is – the ones that go viral bring enormous amounts of attention to their respective shows.
I’d make a free iPhone app available so that you could watch the shows you’ve subscribed to on the go.
Now, it’s probably a longshot that you’ll see any of these moves made, at least not in the near future. These would put Hulu head-to-head with the same cable companies that pay to carry the networks. But if I ran Hulu, I’d worry less about maintaining the status quo. I’d worry more about the future and I’d make sure my business was ahead of the curve, not playing catch up.
For the past three months, there has been one constant in my life: my Abuzz project.
I played with what I felt was the final version about two weeks ago and ultimately decided to hold off until a few more things were added. The features in question were features I had planned to issue in a later update but instead found vital to what became Abuzz 1.0. I’m thrilled to say that Abuzz is now in the App Store.
If you plan on downloading the app, I would love to get your thoughts on it. Be sure to shoot me an email – shawnfarner [at] gmail [dot] com. Also, check out the official Abuzz web site over at AbuzzApp.com.
I’m hoping to develop Abuzz past what everyone has seen so far – I won’t be satisfied until it’s a must-have for iPhone owners. I encourage you to ping me with ideas for features you’d like to see in updates. Email, call, text (717-884-9763) – it’s all good. :)
I’m confused as to why startups flood into new areas with little, if anything, to add. A neat little app or web service comes out and, like clockwork, it’s immediately met by a bunch of “me too’s”.
What’s the point?
If you come to play with something that’s only a *little* better than what is already offered, you aren’t making a very compelling case for users to switch. Most will stay with what they’re already invested in.
That’s why you need to go for the grand slam. If it means taking some more time to get your app out there for the world to experience, take that time. Make it something that people *want* to try out and *want* to stick with.
It’s either that or waste your time building the next deadpooled project. The choice is yours.
With Abuzz development winding down (after a small delay), I’ve been wondering what project I’ll take on next. This isn’t to say that Abuzz won’t be improved upon and future releases won’t come out – the app will still own some of my life. But what will own it after that?
I could do another iPhone app. I have some ideas I’ve been kicking around and it doesn’t look like anyone else is doing them. Plus, after Abuzz, I feel confident that I could manage such a project and do so more smoothly. That route is open, but I’m currently looking in a different direction.
Little known fact: in 2004, I moved and became a South Carolinian. Leaving PA was something I had always wanted to do and I had no intention of returning. Then something funny happened.
A goal got in the way.
I was going to put myself through college and, well, I was still considered an out-of-stater. That means school is twice as expensive. I had been admitted to Winthrop University, but I shelved that and came back to the bitter cold of Harrisburg. I worked a few months as a temp for the PA Dept. of Labor and Industry, went to HACC and eventually transferred out to IUP. If you know me, you know how that story ends.
Sometimes you have to give up something you want to get something else you want. That’s life.
(Don’t get me wrong, I still plan on moving out of PA someday – I’m not built for this weather.)
I thought I had a finished version of Abuzz, the iPhone app I’ve been diligently working on since the beginning of October. However, I suddenly realized that I’d be putting something out that I wasn’t totally satisfied with. There were a few features I was going to have pushed out in an update later, but why go that route? Why not wait a bit longer and include it all?
So I pushed it back. I’d rather have the app include all the functions I want on day one. It really kills me to do it – I’d love to get Abuzz out there – but I know it’s the right thing to do.
First tough decision of the year. What else will 2010 bring?
May I pause from my posts about tech and write a little about the Eagles/Cowboys game tonight? Thank you.
There is one word that sums up Philly’s performance tonight – disgraceful. With a first-round bye, a home playoff game and the NFC East crown on the line, the Eagles came out and played more like a 4-11 team than an 11-4 team. Dumb penalties, an out-of-sync offense and the inability to cover Jason Witten all played huge roles.
I’m an Andy Reid fan, don’t get me wrong. However, a lot of his decisions baffled me. First off, Jeremiah Trotter. I love Trot. He’s an Eagle through and through, but he has one major flaw – he’s SLOW. Witten was wide open on multiple plays and #54 was trailing far behind. Trotter is in there to stop the run, yet the Cowboys had a huge night on the ground. We need another LB in there, pronto.
Next, the play calling before the half. The Eagles had a minute and two timeouts to drive down the field and put some much-needed points on the board. They wound up calling some short passing plays, settling for four and five yards when they needed 20-yard chunks. The sense of urgency just wasn’t there, something we seem to say about them constantly this time of year.
Finally, the penalties. The Eagles are giving games away by committing dumb penalties. Sheldon Brown’s pass interference wasn’t even needed – Witten was going to be short of a first down and likely would have been stopped had he caught the ball. There were tons more. False starts. Holding. Roughing the passer. The list goes on. If the Eagles hope to win next week’s game, they need to go in there focused. No dumb mistakes and no killer penalties.
I was fairly confident going into this game. The Eagles usually play lights-out football in big games like this, but they really laid an egg here. A goose egg, as in, zero points. The offense needs to show up next weekend in-sync. The defense needs to become the ferocious group that terrorized opposing quarterbacks in the past. Reid needs to let his players know that penalties are inexcusable. All of these things need to happen if Philly has a shot to get past the Cowboys in the first round.