

Netbot: An App.net Client from Tweetbot Creators - dcope
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/10/03/tweetbot-creator-launches-netbot-a-mature-and-polished-app-net-client-for-iphone-and-ipad/

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colinsidoti
This. I don't think App.net would have worked a year ago, maybe even not six
months ago. But now, with Twitter actively attacking their developers, I
imagine we'll be seeing a ton of ports from Twitter to App.net.

Twitter definitely considered the risk of cutting off their development
community, but I don't think they intended to hand those developers off to a
competing platform. Good timing from App.net.

~~~
whalesalad
App.net will get lots of hackers and people in our community, but in terms of
reaching critical mass ... I don't think it will work.

People join twitter now out of societal pressure. "What is this thing? What is
this ad on the subway that says I should follow them on twitter? Who's this
athlete that is now Kobe Bryant with a strange @username at the end of his
name?"

Developers, techy individuals, and people who consume twitter at a high level
are more inclined to pay for it.

People who casually use it to help trend the latest hashtag about
#whatmenreallywantfromawoman could care less. They're not going to pay a
yearly fee for this, especially when the line between this and twitter is very
blurry.

p.s. I am an app.net user and own a copy of netbot.

~~~
diego
That's like saying that John Deere won't be a successful company because most
people won't buy tractors.

~~~
untog
Sort of. The perception is that app.net is going up against Twitter. In your
comparison, that's like saying that John Deere can outsell Ford.

However, the more realistic view is that app.net will remain a niche service,
but one that suits techies very well. So, yes, John Deere will corner the
market in tractors, but never branch out to cars.

~~~
nitinthewiz
Your perception and inference are both wrong. App.net isn't just going up
against twitter, but rather the entire social networking paradigm where I have
multiple signups and not enough use. If we use app.net to login to most major
services and post, like I have to do with twitter, facebook and linkedin right
now, I get away with a single login.

What'll drive adoption? The developer incentive program. This also answers
your John Deere example... There will be a lot of offsprings from App.net. In
a rudimentary tone - a fb-clone, an instagram clone, comments systems
(bit.ly/qbdebut)etc...

~~~
untog
I talked about Twitter specifically because the OP talked about Twitter
specifically.

I don't doubt that there will be lots of offsprings from app.net, I'm just
dubious about whether they'll gain any traction. "You only have to use one
username/password!" isn't enough to get people to spend $5 a month.

~~~
jpxxx
I don't think that app.net is selling an identity service that will take off
or be worthwhile, but I strenuously disagree with the assertion that people
won't pay for single sign in on the Internet.

It is, in my opinion, the number one pain point on the web today. It affects
users of all technical levels and the more you have invested in the web the
worse it gets.

~~~
pydave
Sounds like an opportunity to charge people to set up their OpenID and use
your revenue to get more companies to implement it.

Disclaimer: I don't know much about building websites and I don't understand
why OpenID hasn't got more traction.

~~~
jicktroyat
If OpenID was a tractor, we would need to have a PHD in astrophysics to
understand how to drive it successfully.

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drharris
Pay money to view a feed from people who paid money to view each others'
feeds, with conversation about the feed? It all seems so meta.

~~~
diego
Just because it's money? You're also spending your time, effort, attention,
and opportunity cost.

Is college meta because you spend money to work for free with people who also
spend money, while learning from people who get paid money to teach you?

You're probably more used to services that monetize with ads, and encourage
quantity of accounts at the expense of quality because it's good for their
numbers. Nothing meta about one or the other.

~~~
drharris
No, just because it's a recursive service. A feed where the feed is full of
people talking about the feed. At least, last time I checked.

Edit: And, suspicions are confirmed:
<http://adn.loqix.com/appwords.17:00-03.10.2012.png>

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diego
Netbot is causing quite a stir at app.net. Here's a word cloud of the past
hour's global timeline:

<http://adn.loqix.com/appwords.17:00-03.10.2012.png>

~~~
johns
Check out the client stats: <http://appnetizens.com/clientstats>

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modernerd
Tapbots link: <http://tapbots.com/software/netbot/>

App Store link: [http://itunes.apple.com/app/netbot-for-iphone-
app.net/id5635...](http://itunes.apple.com/app/netbot-for-iphone-
app.net/id563595132?mt=8)

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bradleyjoyce
I'm curious as to why they created a completely separate app. Why not just
integrate App.net functionality into Tweetbot? I'd certainly be much more
likely to use it that way... and I even paid the $100 developer fee for
app.net.

~~~
swilliams
I'm pretty sure the newer TOS for Twitter precludes that.

~~~
gjulianm
The TOS just forbids mixing Twitter updates with updates from other social
networks in the same stream, I think.

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astrodust
Still not sure why I'm supposed to care about app.net enough to pay $5/mo.

~~~
mikeevans
What about $3/mo? They just introduced a $36/year plan.

~~~
nitinthewiz
The best part of that is that if the cost decreases further, you don't lose
your money, you get more membership time.

~~~
astrodust
To _what_ , exactly?

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joeblau
This looks awesome! I was wondering how long it would take for companies with
Twitter clients to port over to App.net. The App.net platform looks like it
may give Twitter a run for its money.

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cicloid
My favorite client in the new frame... I wonder how much time did take to port
the network code to App.net? And if using a different key for crossposting.

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aneth4
I'm an AppNet user, but pretty limited in frequency. The primary reason is
that I want proper posts to facebook and don't want to post in two places. I
would like to see apps like this have the option to cross-post to facebook and
twitter.

Ifttt fails because it does not allow proper link posts to facebook, and going
through twitter to facebook results in truncated messages.

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barredo
Now they have my attention. It is an incredible client.

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timmillwood
I would sign up for app.net if they supported open standards such as OStatus.

~~~
abraham
They have committed to supporting open standards like Activity Streams,
PubSubHubBub, and Webfinger. While not OStatus explicitly, it looks like the
majority of OStatus will be supported.

<http://daltoncaldwell.com/a-response-to-brennan-novak>

~~~
rwolf
It's important to note the careful hedging in that response. Specifically:

* Activity Streams will be read-only, except through their (non-ostatus) API.

* No subscribing through pubsubhubbub "initially." It implies but does not promise eventually subscribing.

* Similar to streams, webfinger will be published but not consumed.

* From context, the final clause about inbound and outbound syndication is through some non-ostatus mechanism.

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kevinherron
How can something that just launched be labeled 'mature'?

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primatology
The idea is that much of the code from Tapbot's mature Twitter client
(Tweetbot) was reused.

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DanHulton
Bought it, have it sitting right above my Tweetbot app.

That said, it really hides the Global stream, and I'm not really cool with
that. There's all kinds of good stuff in there.

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thebigkick
I find my HackerNode app is a much more fulfilling experience.

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lukeholder
serious yet seemingly silly question: What do i call tweeting in app.net?
apping?

~~~
dekz
posting? Like every other website out there except twitter. I posted on HN, I
redditted this cat picture?

~~~
lukeholder
My point was probably more around branding. Posting is generic; you mean a
blog post? Status Update? Tweets are known to be just 140 chars.

