
Kevin Rose’s idea for a new blogging platform called Tiny - datacog
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/12/16/heres-digg-founder-kevin-roses-idea-new-blogging-platform-called-tiny/#disqus_thread
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krapp
I don't see how it necessarily offers a "window" into someone's soul to have a
blurry webcam running on them. The webcam probably won't add anything to the
context of a post, and more likely than not the image is either going to be
someone staring into the screen or an empty chair when they're not there.

The process of watching a writer write is not as insightful as, say, watching
an artist paint.

There may be something to combining video and text into some kind of blogging
system - because I could almost see it working on mobile with pictures of just
about anything else. You write a post, you take some video, it just goes.

But this just seems superficial and even a bit vain. Also potentially
dangerous. Digital blurs can be removed after all, can't they?

~~~
interpol_p
It would probably work better if it only played a replay of the video captured
while they were actually writing their post.

The only way I would find this interesting is for authors who blog on mobile
devices — seeing them blog as they move through the world would be kind of
unique (and then probably get boring once the novelty wore off).

~~~
krapp
>and then probably get boring once the novelty wore off

You might need something to augment that novelty. Maybe instead of a blogging
platform, some kind of PostSecret like app where people post anonymously with
video backdrops instead of cards. This would be better than a blogging
platform as well because it would encourage (or perhaps even limit) small
blocks of text which would fit into a small space without needing a scrollbar.

~~~
mfarid
But anonymously posting secrets in the form of videos with a small caption
would make the videos look rather 'not like secrets'. I would rather prefer it
as a microblogging platform than a secret sharing platform with video snippet
captured while the text was being written, in the background...

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gum_ina_package
I wish more people would share ideas like this. Rose said he isn't building
this as a product any time soon, rather that he had a new idea about what a
blog is/could be and just shared that idea with the world. In doing so, he's
starting a valuable conversation and challenging the status quo.

I'm not a fan of the actual prototype, but the idea or new philosophy about
blogging that Rose is introducing here is absolutely thrilling.

~~~
datacog
Philosophically, yes its a very thrilling concept that you could look into the
world of the blogger. But, as far as what the prototype demoed, it seems very
distracting visually to be reading and seeing a person moving behind the text.
As someone pointed, this could rather be some plugin for wordpress/tumblr and
not an actual platform.

Kevin seems to be just testing out his hypothesis here and not really planning
on building a product out of it (as mentioned).

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cantbecool
Wouldn't any motion distract the user from focusing on the content? I mean
this would be interesting for a twitter blog, but if you're adding any
material with any substance I would find it distracting. The static image
aspect is better in my opinion.

~~~
psbp
It would be kind of neat in a multimedia, "Snow Fall" like article, but I'm
not sure if it would be actually useful.

I've often thought of using eye tracking software to introduce more
visual/text information while viewing something. I'm sure we're a long way
away from the ability to make something like that seem serendipitous rather
than just annoying.

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davidp
Useful perhaps to someone enamored with the idea of they themselves being the
story, instead of their words. None of the people whose work I admire would go
near it.

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onedev
This is retarded. There... I said what everyone is thinking but too scared to
say.

It's ok people we don't have to get all philosophical and say "but oh, the
ideas that no one understands are the world changing ones!".

No, just no.

I understand this just fine. It's retarded.

~~~
adregan
Come on, folks. I feel like it's pretty well accepted that using "retarded" to
describe something you don't like—or don't think highly of—is offensive.

~~~
onedev
This is a pretty tiring argument.

"Retarded" to me doesn't mean what you may think it means to me. When you call
something "dumb" do you realize that the word was originally used to refer to
mute people? No? Well, neither does anyone else. Words evolve, and I'm sure
that no one uses "retarded" because they want to make fun of people with real
medical issues. They use it because it evolved to mean something completely
different.

~~~
adregan
Regardless of how you feel about the word, or how you use any word, there are
a few facts to understand.

1) Some people are legitimately hurt by the use of the word retarded in a
derogatory manner (eg. [http://www.r-word.org/r-word-effects-of-the-
word.aspx](http://www.r-word.org/r-word-effects-of-the-word.aspx)).

2) You are choosing to use it and offending them.

Argue all you want, but the fact remains, you have no doubt offended someone.
Is using whatever word _you_ want (ie. being a bit selfish) worth hurting
someone else? Would it be that much trouble if you used another word, was
still able to make your point, and not hurt someone's feelings?

It's one thing to accidentally stumble upon something that might offend
someone, but it's quite another when you ignore the fact that your actions
hurt someone and continue to engage in that activity willingly.

I don't mean to single you out as others below have used similar language, but
it's something to think about.

~~~
bowerbird
where can i state that i am _offended_ -- extremely! -- by people who _choose_
to "be offended" unnecessarily, when absolutely no intention to offend is even
apparent?

did you really, truly, honestly believe that that comment was a roundabout
drive-by on mentally-challenged people?

because frankly, that kind of uncomplimentary inference impugning someone else
with unsavory motives is repugnant.

i came here to say a dirt-simple "no thanks" to the idea, without commenting
on it, because its stupidity was simply too obvious to require any statement.
but that doesn't mean i believe kevin rose is "stupid", because i certainly
don't.

i can separate the idea from the person who suggested it.

and if somebody else calls it a "retarded" idea, which is simply another way
of saying that it is a _stupid_ idea, then i don't think they're criticizing
kevin rose either, let alone a class as _remote_ as the mentally-challenged.

retarded people can use lots of help. so give them some, instead of engaging
other people in pointless semantics.

because you're _not_ helping, or making anyone "think"...

-bowerbird

~~~
bowerbird
5 minutes to the first downvote. why you so slow today?

-bowerbird

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hankcharles
it is an interesting effect, but I don't see how it will ever add anything to
the experience for either the writer or the reader. I guess you are supposed
to imagine yourself watching some captivating writer craft a brilliant post
and feel some inspiration as you peer into the surroundings that inspired such
vivid thought. But who would ever want to watch someone else write? Especially
when 'watching' them is just seeing some set of fuzzy colors drawn from their
forehead and walls. The only time I can imagine this becoming interesting is
when they can convince some upper shelf write like <insert contemporary
novelist here> to participate, and at that point you are basically just
turning them into a zoo animal.

I like Kevin Rose, but I wish he - and most of the other great minds that have
already hit it big once or twice - would learn to think a bit out beyond
pictures, blogs, and aggregating news sites. There is still so much that can
be improved through creative thinkers pushing the boundaries of how we use the
internet; blogs, picture sharing, etc... though are quickly approaching the
limit of how immersive they can currently be.

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MJR
Back in the day we had these things called webcams and bloggers would set them
to take snapshots every few minutes and automatically upload them to their
blogs. As an example, Kottke had his running for a long time:
[http://kottke.org/cam/](http://kottke.org/cam/)

Gamers stream themselves practicing and playing matches live on Twitch so
regularly that fans can sponsor or make donations and its become a form of
income for them. Podcasters often run a live stream while they're recording
and have open chatrooms for live discussion in the moment.

It seems like we've found ways to peak behind the curtain in some media forms
already. The desire for this type of interaction has been there for a long
time and in some communities is already being met with different technology
solutions. For blogging, what is old is new again.

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trustfundbaby
What I want to understand is why this is such a compelling concept that I'd
want to blog using it (or read a blog on it) vs all the other options out
there. I'm just not seeing the allure.

~~~
adventured
The only allure is that it's Kevin Rose attached to it. The idea is terrible
and will flop.

Not only do people not want to watch the very boring process of content
creation, but the content creators will not want people watching their (as
viewed) awkward, stop & start, process of generating. We're all pretty weird
when put under a microscope, and not many people like to be under a
microscope. There is no doubt an extraordinarily small market for this, as
some will go for it, but it's the equivalent of watching paint dry.

~~~
belekoy
Well said! I used to think that he could really manage to pull off great
products. He just stayed long enough to be a HIPSTER.

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jcomis
I guess I just don't get it. It's mostly just going to be a bunch of people
sitting with a vacant look on their face, right? I want to see a blurred
version this because??

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cjoh
This seems to me like it would distract me from writing, and distract me from
reading -- both are things that seem pretty relevant to my information
consumption and production habits.

I produce content that's read by people who you have to wear a tie to meet
with. I hate wearing that damned tie, and the last thing I want to do is have
to start wearing it for my blog.

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salemh
From 2011's "People Staring at Computers"
[http://web.archive.org/web/20110708060121/http://peoplestari...](http://web.archive.org/web/20110708060121/http://peoplestaringatcomputers.tumblr.com/)

Might be a whole lot of this. Vacant staring/etc. Doubtful that when I write
(or most) have any sort of engaging expressions, except for... sprinting, like
NanoWrimo [2] or some such (so its more of a "game" on writing).

Note the actual Tumblr is down/he may face charges for his shenanigans. [1]

Sounds interesting as a thought experiment for new content consumption, but
the wrong target (writers/bloggers).

[1] [http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/07/people-staring-
at-c...](http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/07/people-staring-at-
computers/all/)

[2] [http://nanowrimo.org/](http://nanowrimo.org/)

------
rel
I really like this idea and especially like the idea of making it more of a
"live event"

At a recent hackathon I was documenting how I was feeling and rough progress
reports on the hack but that's just text with a time stamp. If Tiny could use
my webcam to record what i'm doing and then create a cinemagraph-like loop of
myself it would create much more of an acceptable reading for family and
friends than just a markdown file.

Where I really see Tiny shining is the mobile aspect though. Tiny seems like
it will be a vine competitor in the future where you can access posts and see
a quick video in the background of a concert or travelling through some
landscape. While reading you'd see the blurred movie in the background and you
could click out of focus of the post the movie would come in focus.

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podviaznikov
Agree, that it sounds like a feature. Not a platform. I like an idea: would be
interesting to see few real blog posts with such background. Can imagine
relaxed person with a cup of tea, leaving workspace, coming back.

However such background videos can be quite long. Much longer than average
reading time.

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thrush
This is not new. When doing literary analysis, it's often key to take into
account information about the author and their setting, particularly to
abstract subtle meaning from the text. It would be really compelling if there
was a streamlined way to provide the text in context of the author and their
world, therefore giving the text greater meaning. What Kevin Rose has
presented grossly falls short of this idea, unless I'm underestimating the
value of a blurred selfie.

To provide an alternative solution, consider a blogger that writes frequently.
As a start we could probably use some basic data analysis to find most
frequently used words, entities, and similar features.

A different solution that doesn't rely on previous writings could instead rely
on the author's schedule. We could look at the schedule to provide interesting
anecdotes. For example, say the author is writing a review on a Duke Dumont
concert. We could use their schedule to show to that they've been to X related
concerts with the last Y days. Or even slightly less related information, such
as the author just finished a work out before writing and could be tired, or
checked in at Chipotle frequently within the last week, so they have
quesodillas on their mind. These are fairly abstract examples, but I hope they
get the point across.

~~~
yoshyosh
These are the types of brainstorms that sharing such a nascent idea can
create. There are a lot of potential new contexts and emotions that we can
still bring to plain text bc of the digital medium and data.

You should def have some form of contact info in your profile btw!

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DigitalSea
This isn't an idea for a platform, but rather an idea for a feature you could
bolt on to Wordpress or Medium. It's an okay idea, but to be honest, the whole
premise of video seems distracting. The world does not need more blogging
platforms; Wordpress, Medium, Ghost, Tumblr, Google+, Typepad, etc.

What if you like to write blog posts in your underwear or write them naked? I
doubt that would fit in with the context of the article you are writing. Rose
is a smart guy, but this idea however is not a smart idea and I know Rose is a
lot smarter than that. Tiny needs to offer more to justify calling itself a
blogging platform other than the ability to have a video of the author penning
the post.

As a blogger myself I sometimes write posts over the space of weeks and months
before I publish them, I rarely sit down and write a post from start to finish
then hit publish in the space of a day or few hours. I'm not saying Tiny is a
bad idea, but I'm not saying it's a great idea either.

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kirillzubovsky
If you guys want an unorthodox approach to blogging, check out my friends'
platform - [http://newhive.com](http://newhive.com) \- they are like MySpace
meets Tumblr meets MS Paint :) There's been some cool, albeit very "unique"
content published on their site. </shameless plug>

~~~
joshdulac
I loaded the page and scrolled for half a second, and noticed it was slow.
Developer Tools shows 109 requests, 23,023kb, 46.13 seconds.

Perhaps I could offer your friends some unsolicited advice that in order for
their website to scale, they should focus on reducing the number of HTTP
requests and increase image compression, as a start. =)

~~~
kirillzubovsky
Fair point. I will let him know.

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drawkbox
But people act differently when a camera is running and it won't represent the
true moment they are trying to capture. I think it is a fun idea for a new
type of interactive content though. If the person you watch is a slow typer
that would be a quick viewing.

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paulftw
I think most interesting blogs are written in the most boring setting - when
author is not distracted, just crafts content for hours in the comfort of
their living room. So this may be fun for sharing shortlived experiences, but
likely worthless for good reads.

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TheBiv
I would be more distracted if I was watching an actual video of the author as
they were typing. I could see still images being cool (for each piece of
content) but I would hate if I had to sway with the author just to view his
words.

Summary: Fair at best concept bc it's not a far stretch from what is out
there. Not cool bc I don't want to see the author "in real time". Maybe
something where it would allow me to read the authors' post as he is writing
it, but not their video.

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est
This is fun idea. It's like this

[http://paulgraham.com/stypi.html](http://paulgraham.com/stypi.html)

plus a blurred head on the background.

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crystaln
An interesting idea with almost no appeal to readers or writers.

I sort of like the idea of a photo of the blogger, but animated moving
background? Seeing the hems and haws?

No thanks.

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smallegan
Interesting concept...which got me thinking, are there any Adult sites that
use this method of obscuring the image/video until you pay?

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elwell
I don't see how the name 'tiny' is fitting. This blogging platform would
require relatively large amounts of HTTP traffic.

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aymeric
Interesting concept. It will definitely help with readership loyalty as
readers will be more emotionally engaged with the author.

As people have noted, it would make a great feature, rather than a whole new
platform.

Please create this for Wordpress! :) I am happy to donate some money to help
build this.

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bluthru
Bandwidth is still a precious resource. It would take a lot of storage,
processing, transmission, and energy to make a live video happen in the
background of a blog entry.

The premise of an asynchronous portal is interesting, though.

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sgdesign
I would probably forget the webcam was on sooner or later and broadcast myself
doing something I'd regret to the whole internet. So it's probably not great
for people working at home…

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elwell
HN should have small videos next to every post showing the author during the
writing process. That would fit in quite well with its minimalism.

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geolisto
I see where Kevin is wanting to create a connection between the reader and the
blogger. In my opinion this platform seems distracting.

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PavlovsCat
I feel the sudden urge to wear a Max Headroom mask, inject this into blogs,
and then just wave my arms in the background. I am sorry.

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jpdelatorre
That concept would be interesting for status updates. Like having a blurred
background image of you when you posted the update?

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yobb
Kevin Rose is the worst thing to happen to the internet. He is the most
distilled form of hipster. He is a douche.

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elwell
I don't think Stallman would go anywhere near this, given his aversion to
invasion of privacy.

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untilHellbanned
I dont know why this getting so much hate. This is WAY more creative than most
things that get released through HackerNews/YCombinator.

