Is he serious about this being the coolest application to date? I mean really, a music video that will end up embedded on even more people's profile page and which will be interesting maybe the first time I watch it but then I'll be annoyed with because it has no point whatsoever?
Here's what happened: I added the app, made a message to see what it looked like, and then sent it to no one because I didn't think my friends would care. Then I removed the application. Granted, some people will definitely get a kick out of sending and receiving this, but its replay value is close to zero.
It's weird how TechCrunch has some occasionally interesting insights but usually manages to revert quickly to ridiculous pronouncements like this. This "app" is certainly one of the coolest ads I've seen in a little while. I'm definitely more likely to buy the next Dylan album I see.
But it is far from being a real application, let alone the coolest one ever. The coolest app on Facebook four months after the platform launch is a one-trick pony pushing a Bob Dylan album? That says a hell of a lot about f8, but it says even more about TechCrunch.
The tech print media has earned a trend-monkey reputation, but tech bloggers make them look like the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Media often reaches the point where it is just as much about entertainment as useful information. This Techcrunch post didn't teach you a whole lot about Web 2.0 business or technology. It was just playing into a clever viral marketing campaign. In the end, it's hard to fault Techcrunch because the application is pretty cool.
It's very cool, but in a way that demands a qualifier. Arrington should have written something like "This isn't hardest app to make, or even close to the most important, but it's a brilliant little idea." He also should have said that it's got low replay value. I see what you're saying, but the tone of the post suggested that Arrington was using "coolest" to mean something pretty profound.
Arrington isn't espousing about how great the app is, he's talking about how "cool" it is. Bob Dylan defines the meaning of coolness. Kids these days...
What makes this a Facebook app? Shouldn't it just be a webpage? Perhaps a webpage with an option to put the video you generate into your Facebook profile.
Shouldn't a Facebook app make use of Facebook specific features?
If that's the best Facebook has to offer...