5 ms·

Facebook's phone as obvious as nose on your face

15 points by davewiner 16y ago

darwinGod 16y ago
I bet not many saw that coming though. Is this really Dave Winer, the guy behind RSS?? What do you think their selling point would be? "The socially connected phone" And why would people want that??
- davewiner 16y ago
  Yes, it really is me. Thanks for asking! :-)
luminary 16y ago
The mobile versions of FB etc. won't cut it if the next 5-10 years are going to be all about mobile. And thus the need for a true mobile-only social app or "social OS" pending already existing vertical data.
Encosia 16y ago
He couldn't be more dead wrong about the mom-usability factor of the iPhone. I know this because my mom bought one a couple years ago and was able to set up her email and start emailing me photos from the camera before I even knew she had it. This is someone who can't set up her desktop email client without calling me for help.
- davewiner 16y ago
  Guess this stuff comes more easily to your mom than it does to mine. Trust me, I was there -- she's learning how to use it very slowly, over a period of many months.
Psyonic 16y ago
His links from "everyone" and "knew" are both from today... so how would everyone know this already? That said, if they can penetrate the high school crowd, this might be a success. I don't think his mom is really the target market, but I could be wrong.
- lotusleaf1987 16y ago
  I thought I read a while back that FB's biggest growth area is middle aged women: http://www.switched.com/2009/04/14/middle-aged-women-flocking-to-facebook-and-getting-addicted/ http://www.switched.com/2009/04/14/middle-aged-women-flockin...
  - Psyonic 16y ago
    Yes, but would a facebook phone really appeal to them? Also, if a market is saturated (i.e. high school kids), it can't grow by definition, so growth can be a misleading statistic.
siglesias 16y ago
I'd be very interested in just how much social plays into the mobile experience. For example, although Facebook is one of my most frequented apps, I also to check news, play casual games, view website statistics, manage email, listen to music, check my finances, track my weight, calculate tips, read ebooks, watch Youtube and Netflix, and manage to-dos. Is it entirely certain that designing the operating system among sharing photos and posting status message updates will be optimal across all mobile functions? Not sure that it's the case.

15 points by davewiner 16y ago

I bet not many saw that coming though. Is this really Dave Winer, the guy behind RSS?? What do you think their selling point would be? "The socially connected phone" And why would people want that??

davewiner 16y ago
Yes, it really is me. Thanks for asking! :-)

luminary 16y ago

The mobile versions of FB etc. won't cut it if the next 5-10 years are going to be all about mobile. And thus the need for a true mobile-only social app or "social OS" pending already existing vertical data.

Encosia 16y ago

He couldn't be more dead wrong about the mom-usability factor of the iPhone. I know this because my mom bought one a couple years ago and was able to set up her email and start emailing me photos from the camera before I even knew she had it. This is someone who can't set up her desktop email client without calling me for help.

davewiner 16y ago
Guess this stuff comes more easily to your mom than it does to mine. Trust me, I was there -- she's learning how to use it very slowly, over a period of many months.

Psyonic 16y ago

His links from "everyone" and "knew" are both from today... so how would everyone know this already? That said, if they can penetrate the high school crowd, this might be a success. I don't think his mom is really the target market, but I could be wrong.

lotusleaf1987 16y ago
I thought I read a while back that FB's biggest growth area is middle aged women: http://www.switched.com/2009/04/14/middle-aged-women-flocking-to-facebook-and-getting-addicted/ http://www.switched.com/2009/04/14/middle-aged-women-flockin...
- Psyonic 16y ago
  Yes, but would a facebook phone really appeal to them? Also, if a market is saturated (i.e. high school kids), it can't grow by definition, so growth can be a misleading statistic.

siglesias 16y ago

I'd be very interested in just how much social plays into the mobile experience. For example, although Facebook is one of my most frequented apps, I also to check news, play casual games, view website statistics, manage email, listen to music, check my finances, track my weight, calculate tips, read ebooks, watch Youtube and Netflix, and manage to-dos. Is it entirely certain that designing the operating system among sharing photos and posting status message updates will be optimal across all mobile functions? Not sure that it's the case.