Digital DNA » Web tools

Tumblr – can blogging get any easier?

David — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 20:58:44 +0000

Spent some time on new ‘super-easy’ blogging platform tumblr. It takes less than 10 seconds to get started and the interface is extremely straightforward. I can see how a tool like this could take off with a much wider, non-tech savvy audience.

I know WordPress, Blogger and the others are painless, but the interfaces are environments still more suited to relatively experienced users – tumblr isn’t.

Just as I am writing this, my wife is sitting next to me and she has just commented on the tumblr interface and how less techy and how much more friendly she feels it is. My wife doesn’t blog, yet. But this could well be the kind of thing that makes non-bloggers like her take the plunge.

Makers of Basecamp launch contact management tool

David — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 08:34:51 +0000

If you use Basecamp for project management or Backpack to organise your information, you will already know that the company who made these tools (37signals) is pretty smart. Now, they have decided to reinvent contact management by launching a new web-based solution called Highrise.

I have taken the tour and in the space of 2 minutes realised how powerful this thing will be for me and my business. The main features that stand out for my own needs are;
• You can ‘bcc or cc’ Highrise on all outgoing email, and it stores the mail with the contact you sent it to,
• You can create folders (they call them cases) and bunch together related tasks/mail/people – this is great for PR campaigns.
• You get the full history of your individual contacts (emails, action, notes, birthdays).

Anyway, I’m signing up. They’ve got me.

So, I have joined Twitter… now what?

David — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 17:40:44 +0000

I got an email invitation from my friend Tim to join Twitter: “This site Twitter keeps getting mentioned on influential blogs and websites,” he said, “It’s a fast burner at the moment in the States. Sign up like I have, and let’s see if it’s any good.”

Ok, so I have done that… now what?

A few days later, and I am embarassed to say that I don’t quite get it (yet). I’m usually quite fast off the mark with new communication stuff, but not here.

There’s already a load of praise and excitement for this micro-publishing system and I listened to a recent TWiT podcast where Leo Laporte and his friends were going on about how addictive the whole thing is. There just has to be something in it. Yet, I can’t help but feeling that unless there is a relevant reason why you want to get one-line updates of my whereabouts, mood or content of my shopping trolley, then I won’t be using this just yet.

I am wondering whether this is taking off in the US as SMS text messaging never really did. In Europe everybody took to texting years ago, and it will be interesting to see if Twitter takes off over here as much as it does in the States.