What Is This Place To Be?
Posted in Uncategorized on August 19th, 2006From Ryan Vis at the Daily Beta Wiki:
I love the idea of a site dedicated to the review of beta software, especially one that takes the tack of realistic evaluation of that software. With the Web 2.0 hype machine at Warp 11, the concept of the Daily Beta is certainly alive and kicking. So, I believe the first step is to define what, exactly, the Daily Beta should strive to accomplish. For you corporate types, we need to pinpoint our synergies in order to maximize our potential. Let’s distill our energies and draw laser focus on the newest and brightest around the Web.
Ryan asks some further questions. Including one about the theme. What makes Daily Beta different from anyo other technology web site? I’ll join Ryan in the comments section.
August 19th, 2006 at 1:36 pm
I’m thinking that it is about how to use this new batch of web software if you live in one of the flyover states. There are a few ways in which we can set ourselves apart.
Recipies for use of the the software. Mix and match. Maybe I like to use Writely, but I also want to have Tada lists. How do you use those two together? Etc.
How to incorporate your software into open source software, like WordPress or Mediawiki? (Aside, Is service provided Web 2.0 giving host it yourself open source a run for it’s money?)
Honest evaluations. If we don’t like it, we say so. It’s like Consumer Reports instead of Motor Trend. We don’t care about early access, so we don’t pander.
Then there are many, many screencasts, that act has how tos, and that can be an open documentation project, that would be of great help to Think New Orleans.
Ryan?
August 27th, 2006 at 9:54 pm
Where’s Ryan? He’s supposed to be commenting here. I’m ready to create some screencasts, simply to help people get started with things like Google Reader.
August 28th, 2006 at 7:33 am
Sorry, I am here and have been in lurker mode. I plan on being active this week again, although I may be out Friday through Monday.
August 28th, 2006 at 7:46 am
To actually address your comments…
I like the recipe idea, although my initial Issue Detector wonders if we’d wind up with a solution in search of a problem. But, the idea of providing an open documentation resource is very interesting, not just for NOLA. Something like Writely (as much as it pains me to say) actually does give the old desktop model a run for its money. I don’t think Web 2.0 (*shiver*) is there yet, but it’s looking for that breakout technology. AJAX gets us very close, but you just can’t replicate the full desktop experience. Yet.
I always think of something like Click and Clack.. a little attitude with the advice.
August 29th, 2006 at 4:49 pm
Ryan
First, off, I need some way to track these conversations, I’m not noticing when you post. I’m going to have to install the Subscribe 2 Comments plugin. Done.
Now, problem in search of a solution? Fair enough. I like the idea of advice on web applications from two or more people who live in the fly-over states. You and I both are practitioners. Our writing is greared, not toward investors, but to users. It ought to attract lifehackers and maybe real deal users.
We’re beginning to use Google Spreadsheets very seriously at Think New Orleans. It seems like there is a lot to teach people about the social aspect of the software. The sharing.
Click and Clack for Web 2.0 is a nice high concept. A friendly attitude, but one that serves the car owners, not the car industry. It’s the difference between Click and Clack and Motor Trend.
August 29th, 2006 at 8:06 pm
For tracking, I’ve been subscribed to the RSS w/ comments feed, but I’ve noticed it lags a little too.. that could just be Bloglines, however. I use the notify plugin on the ThinkNOLA blog and like that a lot so thanks for adding it here.
So, my initial thoughts tend towards the immediate thing you have going in NOLA. How many people that are blogging or using the wiki need resources to keep themselves going? Could you use something like Windows Live Writer for helping them publish? Is there a way to expand the use of Google Spreadsheets or Writely? A group calendar on Google? How does Hiveminder fit into that?
The audience is basically the same for all those questions when you remove the investor angle; for bloggers, no matter where, if you can simplify or lower the barrier to interacting, the more likely to interact.
From a blogging standpoint, Wordpress is pretty damn solid as far user experience. Mass moderation of comments, a slick posting interface that doesn’t require you know HTML, Textile, or wiki markup. I think what we’re targetting are those power users, people who use the blog or wiki as the ultimate desination for a lot of collaborative work.
August 29th, 2006 at 9:40 pm
Ryan
To get things rolling, the obvoius work product would be more screencasts. I’d have a ready market for screencasts about Google Spreadsheets or other software that we are using at Think New Orleans. Becky is writing about “Google Spreadsheets”:http://beckyhoutman.com/2006/08/28/google-spreadsheets/. We have enough knowledge to start production.