James Robertson asks “where’s the social networking value?”

In a good “can you please cut through the Scoble hype” post, James Robertson notes that he heard all the Twitter hype, then all the Jaiku hype, then all the Pownce hype, and now is hearing all the Facebook hype and wants to know what’s in it for him. The A.Connector podcast talks about the same thing and tells you what value he gets out of these things.

OK, let’s turn on the cynical hat for a moment and stop the hype.

First of all, let’s group Twitter/Jaiku/Pownce together. They are quite different from Facebook, even if there’s a component like those inside Facebook (and the Pownce Facebook app is working again).

Now, none of these things has ANY value if you don’t know anyone on them. They only have value if someone you care about interacting with are on them. I assume that James has friends/family/coworkers/etc who he wants to interact with.

On all of these it’s fun to chat with people. Over on Twitter I’ve been talking with a bunch of people. Plus lots of other people who don’t even know I’m listening posted funny videos.

So, what’s the value?

These things bring interesting things into my life.

Why one over the others?

1. More people you know are on one over the others.
2. You like the way one works better than the others (lately people have been saying Pownce is better in that department than the others).
3. You need a feature the others don’t have. Pownce lets you send music files to other members, for instance. Twitter has an API and was earlier, so it has lots of apps built on top of it. Jaiku is a better aggregator (you can bring in messages from the others, along with blogs and other RSS feeds).

Now, about Facebook, well, it has almost instantly replaced my business card collection AND my contacts over on Outlook. Now if I want to talk with someone I go to Facebook and look them up.

But then you add the application platform to Facebook and you have a whole new beast. That brings a LOT of value and an INCREASING set of values. Today, for instance, the Google Reader app was updated again. There’s nothing else like it on the Internet. So if you want to see what the most popular feed readers are, and what the most popular thing that they are reading, you gotta join Facebook. No alternatives.

Well, OK, the most popular thing in the past 12 hours? Read/Write Web’s list of 10 Facebook Apps for work.

My winner? Facebook. If you join only one that’s gotta be the one — you’ll get value out of that even if you don’t have any friends (and, if you read me, you’ll always have me as a friend). Then try out the others and see which one you like and/or if you get any value out of it.

UPDATE: Jim Long has a good post on this topic where he posits that social networks are the new TV.

UPDATE 2: Steve Rubel says we’re like a million monkeys. Is more interested in what people do with technology rather than the latest “shiny object.” Funny, that post is the culmination of a bunch of Twitter posts back and forth. Turns out that Facebook’s email really pisses Steve off. So, what am I going to do? Send him one, of course! 😉

UPDATE 3: Shaine Mata kept notes on this afternoon’s Twitter session between Rubel and me and others.

63 thoughts on “James Robertson asks “where’s the social networking value?”

  1. OK, let’s turn on the cynical hat for a moment and stop the hype.

    What a shame you didn’t do that. Particularly this:

    Now, about Facebook, well, it has almost instantly replaced my business card collection AND my contacts over on Outlook. Now if I want to talk with someone I go to Facebook and look them up.

    Let’s get REAL. As in, uh, reality. Should the key word in that second quote be “almost” or “instantly”?

    Or both?

    I don’t see how anyone lives like you Robert. You really are manic-depressive. (Meant as a compliment.) If you aren’t hyping this, you’re hyping that.

    Two weeks ago it was all about iPhone. Now it’s Facebook.

    Get a life.

    Like

  2. OK, let’s turn on the cynical hat for a moment and stop the hype.

    What a shame you didn’t do that. Particularly this:

    Now, about Facebook, well, it has almost instantly replaced my business card collection AND my contacts over on Outlook. Now if I want to talk with someone I go to Facebook and look them up.

    Let’s get REAL. As in, uh, reality. Should the key word in that second quote be “almost” or “instantly”?

    Or both?

    I don’t see how anyone lives like you Robert. You really are manic-depressive. (Meant as a compliment.) If you aren’t hyping this, you’re hyping that.

    Two weeks ago it was all about iPhone. Now it’s Facebook.

    Get a life.

    Like

  3. DaveD: are you claiming that my Outlook contact list is more useful than Facebook? It isn’t. I wasn’t on Facebook four weeks ago. Today almost everyone I want to talk with (including Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, by the way) is on Facebook. With MORE information than I EVER had about them before.

    Second, the iPhone is the shiznit. It was last week. It still is. Just because I can’t keep going ‘iPhone, iPhone, iPhone’ doesn’t mean I’m not thinking it’s worthy of everyone’s attention.

    Like

  4. DaveD: are you claiming that my Outlook contact list is more useful than Facebook? It isn’t. I wasn’t on Facebook four weeks ago. Today almost everyone I want to talk with (including Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, by the way) is on Facebook. With MORE information than I EVER had about them before.

    Second, the iPhone is the shiznit. It was last week. It still is. Just because I can’t keep going ‘iPhone, iPhone, iPhone’ doesn’t mean I’m not thinking it’s worthy of everyone’s attention.

    Like

  5. Robert…I’d figure out how to get all that info (contacts/etc) out because next week/month/quarter there will be a new bigger/better/best with a feature you just can’t live without. There will be a new, young hero to replace Zuckerberg. And you’ll be off chasing rainbows. Nothing wrong with that as it’s your job. I don’t have the time to participate as it’s not my full-time job but it’s interesting to watch from the sidelines.

    Like

  6. Robert…I’d figure out how to get all that info (contacts/etc) out because next week/month/quarter there will be a new bigger/better/best with a feature you just can’t live without. There will be a new, young hero to replace Zuckerberg. And you’ll be off chasing rainbows. Nothing wrong with that as it’s your job. I don’t have the time to participate as it’s not my full-time job but it’s interesting to watch from the sidelines.

    Like

  7. PXLated: that might be true. Google might be working on the mother of all social networking tools.

    But that didn’t stop me from using Outlook before. It won’t stop me from using Facebook now. It has utility that I find very useful. The fact that you’re reading blogs might be derided by some as “not useful.” (and it was). One of my friends told me that blogs were a fad and that I wouldn’t do it for long. Heh!

    To do something bigger than Facebook at this point, though, would require a whole number of steps. We’d see warnings coming for years. Heck, I knew about Facebook two years ago back when I still worked at Microsoft and ignored it then cause it was “only for college kids.”

    The world changes. I just am going to be early on that change curve.

    Like

  8. PXLated: that might be true. Google might be working on the mother of all social networking tools.

    But that didn’t stop me from using Outlook before. It won’t stop me from using Facebook now. It has utility that I find very useful. The fact that you’re reading blogs might be derided by some as “not useful.” (and it was). One of my friends told me that blogs were a fad and that I wouldn’t do it for long. Heh!

    To do something bigger than Facebook at this point, though, would require a whole number of steps. We’d see warnings coming for years. Heck, I knew about Facebook two years ago back when I still worked at Microsoft and ignored it then cause it was “only for college kids.”

    The world changes. I just am going to be early on that change curve.

    Like

  9. I find it funny how many of my friends don’t use Jaiku/Twitter/Pownce (isn’t it still in beta?)/Facebook and yet I keep in contact with them all the time. How? Call or email them, or better yet, personal contact. People I want to stay in touch with, I do via personal contact, not some social networking site where I can learn what other friends of friends they might have.
    While Facebook is great for looking up old friends, the more I spend time on it, the less I really care about trying to find that old girlfriend I once dated in high school. Those that I care to stay in contact with, I do. THose I don’t I don’t. And you know what has replaced my Outlook contact list? Nothing

    And my wife still uses a Franklin Planner to write her to-do lists and track her contacts and schedule.

    Get out of the bubble more often

    Like

  10. I find it funny how many of my friends don’t use Jaiku/Twitter/Pownce (isn’t it still in beta?)/Facebook and yet I keep in contact with them all the time. How? Call or email them, or better yet, personal contact. People I want to stay in touch with, I do via personal contact, not some social networking site where I can learn what other friends of friends they might have.
    While Facebook is great for looking up old friends, the more I spend time on it, the less I really care about trying to find that old girlfriend I once dated in high school. Those that I care to stay in contact with, I do. THose I don’t I don’t. And you know what has replaced my Outlook contact list? Nothing

    And my wife still uses a Franklin Planner to write her to-do lists and track her contacts and schedule.

    Get out of the bubble more often

    Like

  11. The winner for me is also Facebook. If they ever expand the “Status” feature, it may spell trouble for Twitter/Jaiku/Pownce.

    Personally, I’d like to have my network in one spot…and I think Facebook has the best chance to make that happen.

    Like

  12. The winner for me is also Facebook. If they ever expand the “Status” feature, it may spell trouble for Twitter/Jaiku/Pownce.

    Personally, I’d like to have my network in one spot…and I think Facebook has the best chance to make that happen.

    Like

  13. Jonathan: like I said, you won’t get utility out of these things if you don’t know anyone on them. In your case only your ex girlfriend is on it. I wouldn’t see any utility in it either if that was the case.

    But, luckily for me I have a really killer list of friends.

    And I don’t want to get out of the bubble more often. Everytime I do it seems like I’m going back to the past.

    Maybe you’ll ask me to start using the US Post Office to send mail, or you’ll want me to give up my Saturn for a horse.

    Nah. I’d rather live in your future.

    Like

  14. Jonathan: like I said, you won’t get utility out of these things if you don’t know anyone on them. In your case only your ex girlfriend is on it. I wouldn’t see any utility in it either if that was the case.

    But, luckily for me I have a really killer list of friends.

    And I don’t want to get out of the bubble more often. Everytime I do it seems like I’m going back to the past.

    Maybe you’ll ask me to start using the US Post Office to send mail, or you’ll want me to give up my Saturn for a horse.

    Nah. I’d rather live in your future.

    Like

  15. But I don’t live in the past, I wouldn’t ask you to ride a horse that would be silly.
    I’m serious when you get out of the bubble and see how others view technology you would be suprised.
    Does that mean I’m living in the “dark ages”…. obviously not. I would deem my wife and my family technologically savy and power users of their computers (Windows XP, Linux and Mac OS X are the different Operating Systems in use)… most of my friends we would rather spend time togehter doing things like going for a run, enjoy a beer and watching a sporting event, then “talking” over jaiku/pownce/facebook. I think we need to redifne what “friendship” really is

    Like

  16. But I don’t live in the past, I wouldn’t ask you to ride a horse that would be silly.
    I’m serious when you get out of the bubble and see how others view technology you would be suprised.
    Does that mean I’m living in the “dark ages”…. obviously not. I would deem my wife and my family technologically savy and power users of their computers (Windows XP, Linux and Mac OS X are the different Operating Systems in use)… most of my friends we would rather spend time togehter doing things like going for a run, enjoy a beer and watching a sporting event, then “talking” over jaiku/pownce/facebook. I think we need to redifne what “friendship” really is

    Like

  17. In the end, I wonder how useful any of these sites really are outside of the tech community and those younger users with lots of free time. I don’t know a lot of mainstream people with jobs and families who have time for any social networking sites or tools. So while Facebook and others generate a lot of traffic, they don’t really generate the traffic advertisers want. Is there a Facebook for families?

    Like

  18. In the end, I wonder how useful any of these sites really are outside of the tech community and those younger users with lots of free time. I don’t know a lot of mainstream people with jobs and families who have time for any social networking sites or tools. So while Facebook and others generate a lot of traffic, they don’t really generate the traffic advertisers want. Is there a Facebook for families?

    Like

  19. Thank god a lot of those useless networks are owned by privatly held corps, or else there would sure be a lot of mad stock holders (or there would be another Internet crash)

    Then again, I’m sure Facebook would make a lot of traders happy.

    With that said, I’ve yet to sign up.

    Like

  20. Thank god a lot of those useless networks are owned by privatly held corps, or else there would sure be a lot of mad stock holders (or there would be another Internet crash)

    Then again, I’m sure Facebook would make a lot of traders happy.

    With that said, I’ve yet to sign up.

    Like

  21. Jonathan: I get out in the real world a lot. I just find that people hold onto what they know way too much.

    Anyway, you must have missed yesterday. I got together with a bunch of my Twitter/Facebook friends and drank beer, walked on the beach, and had lots of fun too. Just cause you’re on Facebook doesn’t mean you can’t do stuff like that.

    Like

  22. Jonathan: I get out in the real world a lot. I just find that people hold onto what they know way too much.

    Anyway, you must have missed yesterday. I got together with a bunch of my Twitter/Facebook friends and drank beer, walked on the beach, and had lots of fun too. Just cause you’re on Facebook doesn’t mean you can’t do stuff like that.

    Like

  23. Joe Ranft: you might ask Barack Obama or John Edwards that question. They find these things very useful to keep in touch with their supporters. And not just the geeks, either. I also know a bunch of people who work outside the tech industry who are on Facebook. Facebook is NOT a “geek only” thing. It started out as a “college only” thing, though, and it’s growing out from there. Certainly if you are in the tech industry and you’re not on Facebook already you’re missing out on networking opportunities.

    Jeff Pulver, for instance, who runs some of the biggest conferences in the industry, says Facebook is it for him now and that he’s dumping LinkedIn. http://pulverblog.pulver.com/archives/007226.html

    Like

  24. Joe Ranft: you might ask Barack Obama or John Edwards that question. They find these things very useful to keep in touch with their supporters. And not just the geeks, either. I also know a bunch of people who work outside the tech industry who are on Facebook. Facebook is NOT a “geek only” thing. It started out as a “college only” thing, though, and it’s growing out from there. Certainly if you are in the tech industry and you’re not on Facebook already you’re missing out on networking opportunities.

    Jeff Pulver, for instance, who runs some of the biggest conferences in the industry, says Facebook is it for him now and that he’s dumping LinkedIn. http://pulverblog.pulver.com/archives/007226.html

    Like

  25. Firstly, thanks for linking to my post! Deb Schultz’ tagline on her blog says it best. “Technology changes, humans don’t” We want to connect, we want to have a voice and have impact. Some tools allow us to do that better than others. Somtimes it’s useful to connect to groups with common interests, other times it’s good to get out of the echo chambers.

    A Twitter friend @BlondeByDesign asked me to find her a soldier she could “take care of” on trip i recently made to Afghanistan. I met Sgt. Danny Allman in Kandahar and asked him to write down his email. Simple… done. I passed on the info. to @BlondeByDesign and she’s whipped up a huge campaign to send Sgt. Allman and his comrades “care packages” The outpouring has been tremendous.

    THAT, to me, is a real, measurable demonstration of the value of social networking. And Jonathan, Kandahar, I assure you is about as real world as it gets my friend!

    Like

  26. Firstly, thanks for linking to my post! Deb Schultz’ tagline on her blog says it best. “Technology changes, humans don’t” We want to connect, we want to have a voice and have impact. Some tools allow us to do that better than others. Somtimes it’s useful to connect to groups with common interests, other times it’s good to get out of the echo chambers.

    A Twitter friend @BlondeByDesign asked me to find her a soldier she could “take care of” on trip i recently made to Afghanistan. I met Sgt. Danny Allman in Kandahar and asked him to write down his email. Simple… done. I passed on the info. to @BlondeByDesign and she’s whipped up a huge campaign to send Sgt. Allman and his comrades “care packages” The outpouring has been tremendous.

    THAT, to me, is a real, measurable demonstration of the value of social networking. And Jonathan, Kandahar, I assure you is about as real world as it gets my friend!

    Like

  27. The connections we make via Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network are as real as we make them. It is true that technology changes while people stay the same. One could say that people will use technology that makes it easier to do things. For now, Facebook and Twitter make it damn easy to connect and organize. For now, they are the path of least resistance. All my people are there, as am I.

    Like

  28. The connections we make via Facebook, Twitter, or any other social network are as real as we make them. It is true that technology changes while people stay the same. One could say that people will use technology that makes it easier to do things. For now, Facebook and Twitter make it damn easy to connect and organize. For now, they are the path of least resistance. All my people are there, as am I.

    Like

  29. Today in the Vancouver newspaper there was an article about how a mother and son, long lost to each other and who had been searching for each other, connected and are now together … via Facebook.

    I have been less than impressed by essentially all the other social networking applications, starting long ago (anyone remember Orkut, for example, or Tribe ?), but I think Facebook is very well done. It offers users much more choice and control, and yet is open with respect to all sorts of other applications .. which will find a home if they are useful, and wither and die if they are not.

    I’m also not really big on naming everything that has hyperlinks and tags as “social”, but in the case of Facebook calling it a Social Operating system for peoples’ activities on (and sometimes off) line seems appropriate.

    I do wish they’d get the “how do you know this person” part sorted .. but it’s a minor quirk.

    I think that as applications and services on the Web get easier to use, and more intertwined with each other, peoples’ life and work activities on and offline will just keep blending together more and more … and it will be up to each of us individually to make our own choices and draw our boundaries .. tho’ I suspect even those will vary, for most of us, over time.

    As Doc Searls would probably say, for most of us it’s probably not “either / or” but “both / and”.

    Like

  30. Today in the Vancouver newspaper there was an article about how a mother and son, long lost to each other and who had been searching for each other, connected and are now together … via Facebook.

    I have been less than impressed by essentially all the other social networking applications, starting long ago (anyone remember Orkut, for example, or Tribe ?), but I think Facebook is very well done. It offers users much more choice and control, and yet is open with respect to all sorts of other applications .. which will find a home if they are useful, and wither and die if they are not.

    I’m also not really big on naming everything that has hyperlinks and tags as “social”, but in the case of Facebook calling it a Social Operating system for peoples’ activities on (and sometimes off) line seems appropriate.

    I do wish they’d get the “how do you know this person” part sorted .. but it’s a minor quirk.

    I think that as applications and services on the Web get easier to use, and more intertwined with each other, peoples’ life and work activities on and offline will just keep blending together more and more … and it will be up to each of us individually to make our own choices and draw our boundaries .. tho’ I suspect even those will vary, for most of us, over time.

    As Doc Searls would probably say, for most of us it’s probably not “either / or” but “both / and”.

    Like

  31. I prefer Pownce, but with no mobile interface it’s limited. I predict they will surpass twitter.

    And you’re so right on about Google Reader’s app on FB.

    Like

  32. It irritates the hell out of me that FB is so closed.
    – You can’t see anything without logging in.
    – It’s Anti-SEO. Google doesn’t see the content
    – There’s no external API for updating and almost no export (RSS etc)

    I really hope that when the next greatest thing comes along and we all desert FB, we’ll be able to get our data out again. Or maybe it won’t matter, we’ll just start over.

    But right now, FB is like a black hole. It’s gravity is pulling everything into it, but nothing comes back out.

    Like

  33. It irritates the hell out of me that FB is so closed.
    – You can’t see anything without logging in.
    – It’s Anti-SEO. Google doesn’t see the content
    – There’s no external API for updating and almost no export (RSS etc)

    I really hope that when the next greatest thing comes along and we all desert FB, we’ll be able to get our data out again. Or maybe it won’t matter, we’ll just start over.

    But right now, FB is like a black hole. It’s gravity is pulling everything into it, but nothing comes back out.

    Like

  34. Julian, that’s what kinda makes it nice. Because if Google sees it, then someone will abuse the crap out of it. (read: SEO)

    And hey, this is social stuff. A lot of folks act more normal and human on Facebook than they might on Twitter. Once those APIs and RSS feeds show up, guess what…. mmm audience! Time to perform, time to be a bit louder perhaps?

    Like

  35. Julian, that’s what kinda makes it nice. Because if Google sees it, then someone will abuse the crap out of it. (read: SEO)

    And hey, this is social stuff. A lot of folks act more normal and human on Facebook than they might on Twitter. Once those APIs and RSS feeds show up, guess what…. mmm audience! Time to perform, time to be a bit louder perhaps?

    Like

  36. If I worked for the NSA, I would absolutely love whats going on in the social space,we’ve come to the point where we willingly give up all privacy and put our entire lives on a site for everybody to see and to act on, because it’s the cool thing to do.

    I do believe there is some use for these things, such as blogs,but other things take time to gestate, and only then will we see if they have any long term value, regardless of how many neat things certain people perceive that it brings into their lives.

    I have friends all over the world and we keep in touch without social networks.

    But lets face it, we’re human, we have the Monkey see, Monkey do factor programed right into out DNA.

    Like

  37. If I worked for the NSA, I would absolutely love whats going on in the social space,we’ve come to the point where we willingly give up all privacy and put our entire lives on a site for everybody to see and to act on, because it’s the cool thing to do.

    I do believe there is some use for these things, such as blogs,but other things take time to gestate, and only then will we see if they have any long term value, regardless of how many neat things certain people perceive that it brings into their lives.

    I have friends all over the world and we keep in touch without social networks.

    But lets face it, we’re human, we have the Monkey see, Monkey do factor programed right into out DNA.

    Like

  38. “But, luckily for me I have a really killer list of friends.”

    No, you have a “really killer list” of contacts. (“killer list?” How old are you? 12?) I rather doubt all those 3,000 are friends Rather doubt Ballmer or Gates are your friend. Not saying your list is not useful to you, but to say they ALL are friends? Hardly.

    Like

  39. “But, luckily for me I have a really killer list of friends.”

    No, you have a “really killer list” of contacts. (“killer list?” How old are you? 12?) I rather doubt all those 3,000 are friends Rather doubt Ballmer or Gates are your friend. Not saying your list is not useful to you, but to say they ALL are friends? Hardly.

    Like

  40. Facebook is doomed, and iPhone forever niched, merely as Scoble is hyping it. His track record breathes death, Tablets, RSS, Longhorn, Xbox 360, Second Life and every start-up that somehow captures his short-attention-span. If you want to read the tea leaves in this industry, see what Scoble is flagging up, and bet the other way.

    Like

  41. Facebook is doomed, and iPhone forever niched, merely as Scoble is hyping it. His track record breathes death, Tablets, RSS, Longhorn, Xbox 360, Second Life and every start-up that somehow captures his short-attention-span. If you want to read the tea leaves in this industry, see what Scoble is flagging up, and bet the other way.

    Like

  42. Rodgers: let’s see. iPhone already has set all the sales records. Tablets? Still sold more than Apple has sold Macs. RSS? Gaining in strength every day, even if most people don’t know they are using RSS. Longhorn? Sold 40 million copies in first three months. Xbox? Outselling Sony PlayStation. Second Life? The story still hasn’t been written on that, but I haven’t hyped it up for a year now.

    Like

  43. Rodgers: let’s see. iPhone already has set all the sales records. Tablets? Still sold more than Apple has sold Macs. RSS? Gaining in strength every day, even if most people don’t know they are using RSS. Longhorn? Sold 40 million copies in first three months. Xbox? Outselling Sony PlayStation. Second Life? The story still hasn’t been written on that, but I haven’t hyped it up for a year now.

    Like

  44. Twitter cracks me up! I think a person’s “interestingness” in real life is inversely related to how interesting their Twitter is – the two most interesting Twitters that I read come from people who BORE ME TO TEARS in real life. But they write really pithy comments in 150 characters or less.
    In conclusion: TWITTER IS NOT REAL LIFE… at least for me. Social networking is great but quite overplayed these days. Hype is just hype.

    Like

  45. Twitter cracks me up! I think a person’s “interestingness” in real life is inversely related to how interesting their Twitter is – the two most interesting Twitters that I read come from people who BORE ME TO TEARS in real life. But they write really pithy comments in 150 characters or less.
    In conclusion: TWITTER IS NOT REAL LIFE… at least for me. Social networking is great but quite overplayed these days. Hype is just hype.

    Like

  46. Re: Your Rodgers response

    Those “sales records” don’t touch other carriers weekends. More Tablets than Macs? You crazy? So only a little more than a million Macs out there? Someone named Steve Jobs will have a bone to pick with you. RSS, a wash-out even by geek standards. Longhorn did NOT sell 40 million, Vista did, (Longhorn was trashed years ago) and rough 65-70% of that number are OEM installs and upgrades, with a good deal yet unsold. Exactly how many “sold” is unknown, stop smoking Microsoft statistics. XBox 360 has the worst retail return rate of any consumer electronic product in history (33%), add another billion in write-off’s, and Microsoft self-admitted that it was their own design flaw (Moore ruined Sega, ruined Microsoft, now off to ruin EA). And PS3’s story is not yet over, price decrease and upgrade at same price, besides Wii is outselling all. SecondLife is so over, as will be Facebook, or whatever goofy-sounding start-up pops on the scene for a moment.

    Like

  47. Re: Your Rodgers response

    Those “sales records” don’t touch other carriers weekends. More Tablets than Macs? You crazy? So only a little more than a million Macs out there? Someone named Steve Jobs will have a bone to pick with you. RSS, a wash-out even by geek standards. Longhorn did NOT sell 40 million, Vista did, (Longhorn was trashed years ago) and rough 65-70% of that number are OEM installs and upgrades, with a good deal yet unsold. Exactly how many “sold” is unknown, stop smoking Microsoft statistics. XBox 360 has the worst retail return rate of any consumer electronic product in history (33%), add another billion in write-off’s, and Microsoft self-admitted that it was their own design flaw (Moore ruined Sega, ruined Microsoft, now off to ruin EA). And PS3’s story is not yet over, price decrease and upgrade at same price, besides Wii is outselling all. SecondLife is so over, as will be Facebook, or whatever goofy-sounding start-up pops on the scene for a moment.

    Like

  48. @26 “iPhone already has set all the sales records” Compared to what? Data point, please.

    “Tablets? Still sold more than Apple has sold Macs.”

    This is an idiotic supporting statement. Since when do Tablets compete with Mac’s? The better comparison is Tablet sales vs non-tablet laptops.

    “Gaining in strength every day, even if most people don’t know they are using RSS.”

    Who is measuring this? You? I mean, could you at least support your statements with facts?

    “Longhorn? Sold 40 million copies in first three months.”

    WTF?? Microsoft is SELLING beta software now? Or did you mean Vista? If so, er, um… not so fast..
    ww.crn.com/white-box/200900857;jsessionid=WMSLSSMCWUK1OQSNDLRSKH0CJUNN2JVN

    “Xbox? Outselling Sony PlayStation”

    So THAT explains why MS had to allocate $1B to extend the warranty on the 360’s Maybe 360 is outselling playstation3, but hell, a PS2 outsells a PS3 And the WII is also outselling the 360. So, what’s your point?

    Like

  49. @26 “iPhone already has set all the sales records” Compared to what? Data point, please.

    “Tablets? Still sold more than Apple has sold Macs.”

    This is an idiotic supporting statement. Since when do Tablets compete with Mac’s? The better comparison is Tablet sales vs non-tablet laptops.

    “Gaining in strength every day, even if most people don’t know they are using RSS.”

    Who is measuring this? You? I mean, could you at least support your statements with facts?

    “Longhorn? Sold 40 million copies in first three months.”

    WTF?? Microsoft is SELLING beta software now? Or did you mean Vista? If so, er, um… not so fast..
    ww.crn.com/white-box/200900857;jsessionid=WMSLSSMCWUK1OQSNDLRSKH0CJUNN2JVN

    “Xbox? Outselling Sony PlayStation”

    So THAT explains why MS had to allocate $1B to extend the warranty on the 360’s Maybe 360 is outselling playstation3, but hell, a PS2 outsells a PS3 And the WII is also outselling the 360. So, what’s your point?

    Like

  50. “- There’s no external API for updating and almost no export (RSS etc)”

    Erm, Facebook offer a lot of RSS feeds.

    – friends status updates
    – friends notes
    – friends posted items
    – events can be subscribed to via the industry standard iCal format
    – a specific friends posted items

    Its missing a few things, such as RSS for recently tagged friends in photos/videos, the news feed (though they might not give this up, as its the most prized possession) and a feed or reply tracker for activity in groups (this is sorely missed) but overall it isnt the complete data roach that people seem to be suggesting.

    Like

  51. “- There’s no external API for updating and almost no export (RSS etc)”

    Erm, Facebook offer a lot of RSS feeds.

    – friends status updates
    – friends notes
    – friends posted items
    – events can be subscribed to via the industry standard iCal format
    – a specific friends posted items

    Its missing a few things, such as RSS for recently tagged friends in photos/videos, the news feed (though they might not give this up, as its the most prized possession) and a feed or reply tracker for activity in groups (this is sorely missed) but overall it isnt the complete data roach that people seem to be suggesting.

    Like

  52. I keep reading a few higher profile bloggers write about how linkedin is no longer cool and how facebook is the new amazing place for business professionals and working people. I spent time looking at and critically examining facebook, their offer and the users who congregate there. I browsed about 70 profiles on facebook. Every single profile was of a 18-25 year old doing Jello shots of some chicks abs. I didn’t see a single professional profile or a person over 25ish. OK so no professionals here…why is this useful for professionals then? Then I looked at the applications and widgets available on facebook and all of them were for entertainment purposes (music, movies, jokes)…nothing for professionals so why is this useful for professionals?? I went to groups and saw more college age kids hooking up and socializing…no business or networking groups. I didn’t see any business or industry news or information and I could not find a way to be introduced to professionals in specific industries. PEOPLE – Either I have completely missed something or facebook is offering bloggers access to their IPO to pump up the site.

    What do you think is more likely? That an application built for college kids is more useful then other applications built for professionals or that there is a pump and dump scenario brewing?

    Like

  53. I keep reading a few higher profile bloggers write about how linkedin is no longer cool and how facebook is the new amazing place for business professionals and working people. I spent time looking at and critically examining facebook, their offer and the users who congregate there. I browsed about 70 profiles on facebook. Every single profile was of a 18-25 year old doing Jello shots of some chicks abs. I didn’t see a single professional profile or a person over 25ish. OK so no professionals here…why is this useful for professionals then? Then I looked at the applications and widgets available on facebook and all of them were for entertainment purposes (music, movies, jokes)…nothing for professionals so why is this useful for professionals?? I went to groups and saw more college age kids hooking up and socializing…no business or networking groups. I didn’t see any business or industry news or information and I could not find a way to be introduced to professionals in specific industries. PEOPLE – Either I have completely missed something or facebook is offering bloggers access to their IPO to pump up the site.

    What do you think is more likely? That an application built for college kids is more useful then other applications built for professionals or that there is a pump and dump scenario brewing?

    Like

Comments are closed.