

What Path (V2) Should’ve Been - adii
http://adii.me/2011/12/what-path-shouldve-been/

======
feral
>I’m really unsure why Path are trying to create a whole new network, when
there’s so many great networks out there already.

Bigger potential upside?

Their features are in the core focus of Facebook, so building on Facebook
could be tricky, strategically.

This quotation from Dune always comes to mind, thinking about platforms: 'The
power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it.'

If they depend on a platform with which they are in competition, their product
won't be nearly as valuable as it will be _if_ they succeed in building a new
network.

Maybe they'd be more likely to get traction, trying to build a complimentary
product on an existing network, but owning the network is very valuable in the
long run.

~~~
viscanti
I can't resent anyone for looking to make money, but it seems like the problem
they're trying to solve is that they don't have enough money in their pockets.
If the focus was on solving an actual real-world problem, and building on a
pre-existing platform solved that problem, they wouldn't hesitate to do that.

You can build a feature or a business. It seems like Path is choosing to build
a feature and hoping to make a business out of it. That can work, but it's
tough. They make great looking products, so hopefully that focus on design
influences their competitors, who will likely be around much longer.

------
jermaink
First of all, I think the Path team did a great job with the recent changes
and ads.

However, scaling a platform like Path is always a trade-off. And in a certain
way, that's also similar to what Posterous is facing the next months.

You make it super attractive through channeling different opportunities in one
platform or you make it superfluous as it serves as an coexistence to
Facebook, g+ or instagram etc. If you manage to maintain traffic: Great. If
not: You remain in history as a great platform that already existed. A great
city with great attractions but no one living there.

Not to forget that the cross-service or let´s sets holistic-platform approach
prepares good opportunities for an exit as you can basically transfer a lot of
that information to other platforms. That´s worth something.

------
cwe
This touches on what I see as a pretty big deal for social networks going
forward, although Path is probably not the right app to solve the problem. We
have been throwing all this data about ourselves into all these different apps
for as long as 6-7 years now (much more intensively over the last 2 though),
but don't have a meaningful way to browse through it, or even find anything in
it. Timeline is another major step in this direction, but as of now still has
a way to go. Everyone's talking about what these networks our doing with our
data, but what are WE doing with our own data? I keep coming back to Google's
Parisian Love commercial, if only we could have our own online history
presented the same way: <http://youtu.be/nnsSUqgkDwU>

------
mchusma
I think the journal element is the right track for them. I've found Path more
interesting without the social element. When I was alone in path, I could mark
and post things with no regard for anyone else's opinion. Since I've added
friends, it began to look more like Facebook, and substantially less
interesting. I think Path is a great journal, but like a journal best made
only with yourself.

It's the beauty of the app that much of the joy springs from. I made a short
relevant post on that on my blog <http://mchrishawkins.tumblr.com/>.

------
lambda
Site appears to be down, and Google doesn't have it cached. Anyone have a
copy? Also, the title implies that I should know what Path (V2) is; can anyone
explain or link to that?

~~~
edash
Path released a dramatically new version of their app on Tuesday:
[http://blog.path.com/post/13533662902/introducing-
path-2-the...](http://blog.path.com/post/13533662902/introducing-path-2-the-
smart-journal)

