4 ms·
Ping feels like an exploratory project for Apple. Given the current status of Ping and it's design this looks more like an add-on to designed to work with Faceb
by olefoo 16y ago
Ping feels like an exploratory project for Apple. Given the current status of Ping and it's design this looks more like an add-on to designed to work with Facebook and less of a standalone social network.
Apple doesn't seem comfortable letting iTunes users speak directly to each other. I get the idea that they are uncomfortable allowing anything that would require moderation happen in their walled garden. And the anarchic and freewheeling nature of a vibrant social network seems somewhat counter to Apple's culture.
The part that got my attention during the keynote was that it's supposed to cover concerts as well as recorded music and media; that's a very interesting model to build a social networking application around. It's early days yet, and if Apple can recruit enough artists that can use the channel to engage their audience, and loosens up and lets people talk to each other without requiring that every single gesture they make on Ping be tied to their actions in iTunes (i.e. let regular people post comments unadorned, or even their own music and videos) it may yet become a game changer.
- silvestrov 16y agoI think the mistake Dave Winer makes is to consider this a replacement / direct competitor for Facebook. Apple just used the term "social network" because it's considered hot by the press. Ping should be considered a replacement for the old paper-based music magazines: a channel from the music companies to the interested music lovers. An improvement over the old channel, as it makes it much easier for the consumers to buy new music, and much easier for the bands to provide small snippets of news, pictures etc. Apple is in the business of selling stuff.
- davewiner 16y agoI heard Jobs say it was Facebook or Twitter but for music. Seems pretty unambiguous.
- chc 16y agoThat's what's known as a "high-concept pitch." It gives people a broad idea of what the thing is about and gets people excited by connecting it to something that's already well-loved, but often belies the actual details and intentions behind the thing. The bigger and more iconic the comparison, the more smoke and mirrors are likely being used. For example, "Inception" could be pitched as "Like 'Ocean's Eleven' meets 'The Matrix'". It's not inaccurate, but all it's actually meant to convey is "It's a heist movie with trippy visuals." If you go into the theater expecting either of those movies, you're probably going to be a little bit confused.
- cowboyhero 16y agoIt's interesting in that it's not so much a social network as "your order history online, for everyone in the world to see." It's off-putting that bands can create content but regular users? Not so much. It's odd that I can tell people I'm going to a Cold Play concert (somehow) but I can't post pictures from that event afterwards. But then .. I don't expect Ping to remain in this same place for very long. Apple has a habit of releasing simple, feature complete products at 1.0 and then only adding additional stuff later when they can guarantee a first-rate user experience (eg, the App Store, cut and paste on the iPhone, printing on the iPad, etc). So their one-point-ohs have the pundits and tech journalists writing big "Huh? But it doesn't have ____!" articles, but then in six months or a year later ... it's a wholly different kind of experience. One prediction nobody is talking about much: Since this is based, presumably, on Lala, I expect it to have some kind of streaming service soon.
- glhaynes 16y agoApple has a habit of releasing simple, feature complete products at 1.0 and then only adding additional stuff later when they can guarantee a first-rate user experience (eg, the App Store, cut and paste on the iPhone, printing on the iPad, etc). This also has the side benefit of introducing users to these things in gradual baby steps.
- sonnym 16y agoAn idea that came to my mind watching the keynote was that, by covering upcoming concerts, Ping could become a rather powerful way of not only notifying users of upcoming concerts, but also allowing them to buy tickets. Apple would, of course, have to work out some arrangement with the ticket conglomerates; considering the potential market I cannot imagine this would be much of a barrier. Imagine opening iTunes and being informed of the upcoming concerts in your area based on your listening preferences, or your friends' preferences, or even being notified that your friend is attending a concert and, hey, want to buy a ticket? In my eye, a ticket buying feature like this would be the most game changing in the long run.
- jyuffoo 16y agoIt's already there. There's a Buy Ticket button on concert mentions.