

Why identi.ca is not a Twitter killer -- blame IRC - ilamont
http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/07/03/identi-ca-poised-overtake-twitter-or-fragment-microblogging

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bprater
The other reason it won't be the Twitter killer is network effects. My friend
isn't using identi.ca, so why should I?

By the time that identi.ca makes any inroads, Twitter will get its technology
fixed and people simply won't care.

It's not about the technology, it's about the conversation.

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erickhill
IRC is the only thing I can use during a Steve Jobs keynote that doesn't
crash/fail. Yes, it's not the darling simplicity of Twitter, but in most cases
it seems to work. Getting the masses to understand that is the problem, I
think, which the author tried to point out. It's not really a technical issue
more than a stupid-people tricks problem.

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markbao
IRC isn't kludgy / annoying unless if you make it so (which means being on the
wrong servers or the wrong channels.)

Case in point: irc.freenode.net #startups

~~~
fourlittlebees
LOL. Actually, you just made the point. If you have to be on a "right" server
or a "right" channel, that's the definition of kludge. Mainstream adopters
don't want to figure out what's right and wrong.

~~~
markbao
Heheh. Touche

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bct
"Unless a push is built-in, some server admins may not update, leaving
features unavailable depending on which server you've logged into. With the
constant innovation in web apps and user demand for a more feature-rich
experience, that's an uphill battle for a distributed system."

That's backwards. In a distributed system there's competition between nodes
because it's relatively easy for a user to move from one node to another. In a
centralized system the competition is with separate systems, and since it's
harder to move away an entrenched central system doesn't need to do much to
survive.

Individual nodes also don't need to be as conservative about new features as
massive centralized systems do.

There is a point where inertia sets in and new features that require
widespread adoption become impossible (this is where email and IRC are now),
but that takes years.

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randallsquared
"Without users or site owners owning the copyright, there can be no reasonable
expectation of privacy, nor of your conversation not being spread far and wide
in various forms."

The license is a red herring.

If you publish something on the internet (whether by twitter, identi.ca,
email, blog, or whatever), you have no way to positively control the
distribution of that content. All you can do is take actions that tend to
limit distribution, in many cases.

Privacy is dead: the sooner people start living their lives as though
everything about them will eventually be public, the fewer unpleasant
surprises they'll have.

~~~
fourlittlebees
I never fail to be confused by this assertion. Why is it that coders expect to
be paid for developing apps, yet anyone writing or taking pictures or creating
music should just assume they are creating it for free?

~~~
thwarted
Coders expect to be paid for developing apps by the people/companies that want
those apps. Coders who write code and then release it under an open source
license are not expecting to be paid for it. Writers or photographers who
produce and then post their stuff on-line, un-prompted, ARE creating it for
free. If you want to get paid to write or take photographs, find someone who
is willing it pay to have you write or pay to have you use a camera. This will
require that someone actually want /your/ output.

Developers go to work and produce something for someone else, and in exchange
get paid. Then they go home and work on their own stuff. Writers, too, can get
a job where they write for someone who is willing to pay them, and then go
home and write their own stuff. In most cases, the developers don't really
like having to produce stuff for someone else, but that's how they pay the
bills.

The developers seem to be more adept (in your analogy) at solving the problem:
they find someone who wants to pay them BEFORE they produce the software (even
shrinkwrap software or startups presumably have done some market research to
find out if their output is attractive to potential buyers of said product).
The writer or photographer who tries to find someone to buy their output AFTER
it's already created is facing an uphill battle, mostly in marketing, trying
to convince someone to buy their product rather than producing a product the
market demands.

Developing software for someone else is like working in a portrait studio or
photographing products for ads.

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baldwinlouie
I still like using IRC. Its nostalgic.

~~~
fourlittlebees
So is vi. So is PINE. But I want better tools.

