DISQUS

Thanks very much for the kind mention, Michael.


I do have a lot planned for Gridjit and I'd love to hear if you have specific requests / features that you think would make Gridjit more enjoyable.



Currently in development are features to bring in your FriendFeed comments, likes, rooms and Twitter replies. I hope to have that out this week. This will hopefully round some things out for those two networks. :-)



Thanks again!

Thanks very much for the kind mention, Michael.

I do have a lot planned for Gridjit and I'd love to hear if you have specific requests / features that you think would make Gridjit more enjoyable.

Currently in development are features to bring in your FriendFeed comments, likes, rooms and Twitter replies. I hope to have that out this week. This will hopefully round some things out for those two networks. :-)

Thanks again!

This is a great post and it's one of the problems I'm trying to approach with Gridjit (http://gridjit.com). A new version is coming soon that supports FriendFeed but I agree with you that it (true aggregation) shouldn't stop there.

Part of it is data aggregation and part of it is finding a way to visualize the aggregated data. The question is how to make that aggregated data useful. What actions should you take? How can you use this aggregation to further promote your personal brand?

Hi Corvida,

Thanks for the kind mention. I really strove to keep the UI as simple as possible, so I'm glad it went over well. I like the idea for timestamps. I'm also trying to figure out a nice way to visualize replies.

I also like Twhirl a lot but sometimes I get overwhelmed by the "chattiness" of any IM type client. So, I alternate between using Twhirl and Gridjit, depending on my mood.

Some of the best advice I've heard in a long time. Thanks so much for sharing it.

Sounds great - thanks!

Hey Xavier,

Thanks for the mention on Gridjit and the amusing title. :-)

We released Boompaste in October of last year just to get something out there and gain a better understanding of the sort of data we could collect. We've learned a lot and it's safe to say that Boompaste, long term, will look nothing like it does today. We leave it up there for now because we do have users and we've gotten reasonably positive feedback. That said, we definitely understand your perspective.

Gridjit is a lot of fun. We're working on more stuff, so stay tuned!

Best,

Ray

Hi Whitney -

Congratulations - you're the first negative commenter. :-)

The main reason I created it is because the majority of Twitter clients out there (including the web client) feel chaotic to me because of the vertical, list layout. I'm one of those people who prefer things laid out in grids, with items grouped consistently (eg. all recent messages grouped by author) instead of the chronological, "river" view that others prefer. That's it, really.

The feedback I've received so far has been positive -- I'm assuming it's because there are other like me. At any rate, I believe in releasing early and often. Upcoming versions will feature full Twitter client functionality for those who prefer the Gridjit environment. If you feel like taking another look at it then, I'd welcome any feedback. If not, thanks for taking the time so far.

Best,

Ray

I always like your perspective on these things.

Part of the problem is we're talking largely about media technologies, and media has almost always meant advertising. And media, traditionally, in the eyes of the publishers has always just been a channel they can monetize. That's why, with blogs (the technology), you have people who do nothing but blog. And some people make money at it - but the ones who do tend to have at least somewhat of an interesting life outside of their blog.

So the real question, in my mind, is how "new" media will continue to change and grow, especially in light of challenges like yours. Those of us who want to keep it real and blog for the purpose of sharing ideas and making friends will always have to find other ways to make a living. That's fine with me. It doesn't mean I think all blogs with ads on them aren't valid and useful sources of information, but their purpose is clearly different.

Dave -

Assuming there is no need to charge people more than Amazon does for data storage, why not eliminate the concern around security and just pass-through charge people what you're charged via S3. You get the same scalability and you don't require users to share their key.

Just a thought.

I remember when I first stopped wearing watches.

I know the feeling you're talking about -- it goes away.

The funny thing is we are surrounded by so many reminders of what time it is that it's almost laughable that watches are still even necessary, except as jewelry.