7 ms·

New browser RockMelt oozes into beta

16 points by davewiner 16y ago

alanh 16y ago
I’ve been saying for a while now that browsers should have native support for sharing content. I love the idea here. I’m not sure that a row of faces is the best way to do it. (I’m sure it’s hysterical (and counter-productive) to have those faces staring back at you during, er, adult browsing. Just don’t drag anything onto one of your friends…) * * * Edit: A lot of people are assuming this = Flock. They may be making a fundamental error. We nerds tend to think in feature descriptions sometimes. “They both integrate social.” But if the UX / UI are different enough, that could make all the difference. (Edit2: Removed Gecko remark: “Not only is based on a different rendering engine, which hardly matters…”)
- callahad 16y ago
  > Not only is it based on a different rendering engine Actually, Flock switched from Firefox / Gecko to Chromium / WebKit earlier this year. That said, my comment is a bit flippant, and for exactly the reason you mention. Edit: I'd really like to see the RockMelt team discuss why they think Flock has failed to gain traction, and how they plan to address those issues.
callahad 16y ago
Oh hey, it's Flock! (http://flock.com/ http://flock.com/)
- ynniv 16y ago
  With a wretched name!
- webwright 16y ago
  When Google came out, I'm sure you'd say "Oh hey, it's Alta Vista!". I literally can't count the number of products and companies who attacked markets where others had largely failed (or at least not blown the doors off) and won big. YouTube, Google, Facebook, iPad, etc.
- kyro 16y ago
  Except that Flock was incredibly bloated, and took up lots of screen real estate, when I tried it at least.
iamjustlooking 16y ago
I'm not social enough for this browser, I can't "connect" for an invitation if I don't have facebook and there is no other method to get an invite? I hate it when websites do that.
- samdk 16y ago
  Normally I'd agree with you, but in this case you're signing up for a beta for a web browser that is (at least right now) almost entirely built around Facebook. If you don't have a Facebook account, why do you want an invite? (quick edit: I'm genuinely curious--sorry if that came off a bit mean, that wasn't my intention.)
  - iamjustlooking 16y ago
    The on site video shows twitter and other sites. You're right though. I think I was more complaining about about site doing this facebook connect only thing.
twapi 16y ago
do we need another browser?
- epoxy 16y ago
  I'm sure a lot of people asked the same question when competitors to Netscape hit the scene, and look at how much they've changed in that time. I've only read a little about RockMelt, but it's not clear to me why they didn't develop this as an extension ... aside from perhaps being able to claim the search revenue.
- chbarts 16y ago
  > do we need another browser? Exactly: WorldWideWeb ought to be enough for everyone. This isn't Thunderdome. Multiple browsers can be successful at the same time.
bl4k 16y ago
those vertical toolbars look horrible facebook connect is forced? no thanks - browsers should be enabling more privacy, not handing it away
kin 16y ago
If the rendering speed in any way reflects that in the video then the social features would just be the icing on the cake for me.
alexobenauer 16y ago
Not a huge fan. Already in a web browser, no real reason I can't just go to facebook the website, which automatically supports its new features (obviously). Also not sure I want to see my friends faces all the time beside every webpage I visit. Definitely worth a try though.

16 points by davewiner 16y ago

alanh 16y ago

I’ve been saying for a while now that browsers should have native support for sharing content. I love the idea here. I’m not sure that a row of faces is the best way to do it. (I’m sure it’s hysterical (and counter-productive) to have those faces staring back at you during, er, adult browsing. Just don’t drag anything onto one of your friends…) * * * Edit: A lot of people are assuming this = Flock. They may be making a fundamental error. We nerds tend to think in feature descriptions sometimes. “They both integrate social.” But if the UX / UI are different enough, that could make all the difference. (Edit2: Removed Gecko remark: “Not only is based on a different rendering engine, which hardly matters…”)

callahad 16y ago
> Not only is it based on a different rendering engine Actually, Flock switched from Firefox / Gecko to Chromium / WebKit earlier this year. That said, my comment is a bit flippant, and for exactly the reason you mention. Edit: I'd really like to see the RockMelt team discuss why they think Flock has failed to gain traction, and how they plan to address those issues.

callahad 16y ago

Oh hey, it's Flock! (http://flock.com/ http://flock.com/)

ynniv 16y ago
With a wretched name!
webwright 16y ago
When Google came out, I'm sure you'd say "Oh hey, it's Alta Vista!". I literally can't count the number of products and companies who attacked markets where others had largely failed (or at least not blown the doors off) and won big. YouTube, Google, Facebook, iPad, etc.
kyro 16y ago
Except that Flock was incredibly bloated, and took up lots of screen real estate, when I tried it at least.

iamjustlooking 16y ago

I'm not social enough for this browser, I can't "connect" for an invitation if I don't have facebook and there is no other method to get an invite? I hate it when websites do that.

samdk 16y ago
Normally I'd agree with you, but in this case you're signing up for a beta for a web browser that is (at least right now) almost entirely built around Facebook. If you don't have a Facebook account, why do you want an invite? (quick edit: I'm genuinely curious--sorry if that came off a bit mean, that wasn't my intention.)
- iamjustlooking 16y ago
  The on site video shows twitter and other sites. You're right though. I think I was more complaining about about site doing this facebook connect only thing.

twapi 16y ago

do we need another browser?

epoxy 16y ago
I'm sure a lot of people asked the same question when competitors to Netscape hit the scene, and look at how much they've changed in that time. I've only read a little about RockMelt, but it's not clear to me why they didn't develop this as an extension ... aside from perhaps being able to claim the search revenue.
chbarts 16y ago
> do we need another browser? Exactly: WorldWideWeb ought to be enough for everyone. This isn't Thunderdome. Multiple browsers can be successful at the same time.

bl4k 16y ago

those vertical toolbars look horrible facebook connect is forced? no thanks - browsers should be enabling more privacy, not handing it away

kin 16y ago

If the rendering speed in any way reflects that in the video then the social features would just be the icing on the cake for me.

alexobenauer 16y ago

Not a huge fan. Already in a web browser, no real reason I can't just go to facebook the website, which automatically supports its new features (obviously). Also not sure I want to see my friends faces all the time beside every webpage I visit. Definitely worth a try though.