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MetaLab launches Flow Concierge personal assistant service

39 points by alibosworth 14y ago

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
jayp 14y ago
Nicely done. Really. Nice way to differentiate and monetize yourself from the competition. Would it not be good to be able to assign a one-off task to a concierge (a la Exec)? Alternatively, have a "roll over" for unused tasks.
heliostatic 14y ago
I wonder if they're using somebody else for the actual assistant. It seems like a big business to build outside your core competency, otherwise. Great feature regardless.
- pbreit 14y ago
  Wow, that does seem like quite a departure from the original business. And MetaLab pitches itself much more as front-end expert. Is it conceivable this is a front-end for some other virtual assistant service?
  - heliostatic 14y ago
    My first thought was FancyHands, but the pricing is different enough that I'm not sure.
    - 1123581321 14y ago
      The pricing is actually the same but TR said it is not backed by FH. https://mobile.twitter.com/tedroden/status/207985910170652673 https://mobile.twitter.com/tedroden/status/20798591017065267...
      - heliostatic 14y ago
        Ah, interesting. I was thinking that there was no $95/unlimited option, but I guess for a white label you wouldn't want it anyway.
taitems 14y ago
This is really exciting. If this stood alone as it's own service and paired with Siri, well... take my money! But something niggling with the banner: the strange depth of field, combined with the sheer size and incorrect angle of the laptop cannot be unseen.
stevedewald 14y ago
As an avid user and supporter of Flow I'm pretty sure this is a step in the wrong direction. The effort it takes to launch another offer in this already competitive market distracts them from some much needed updates to justify their price. I was happy to pay the $10/mo for what looked like a promising service, but with other task management apps making real progress towards helping me manage my tasks and MetaLab focusing on monetization, I'm not sure I'll renew.
- metalab 14y ago
  Hey Steve, We view this as a business within a business. Nobody from the Flow development team is being distracted with Concierge, it's just another part of the MetaLab umbrella. Also, I find it weird that you think us "focusing on monetization" is a bad thing. What's wrong with having a sustainable business? -Andrew
  - taitems 14y ago
    Wow, no idea who's downvoting. Have a sympathetic upvote for answering honestly.
CubicleNinjas 14y ago
After using a few of these services, I realize why they're so useless: you never have a flow. You're interacting with a changing team, with huge time delays (hours in reality) in between request and response. In my experience it would be better placing the same email text in a search engine. Maybe they've cracked this nut though. I can't help but wonder, why go so far out of their core competency? Maybe they've invested in a support team and hope to generate ROI? It just doesn't seem to make sense from a focus perspective.

39 points by alibosworth 14y ago

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

jayp 14y ago

Nicely done. Really. Nice way to differentiate and monetize yourself from the competition. Would it not be good to be able to assign a one-off task to a concierge (a la Exec)? Alternatively, have a "roll over" for unused tasks.

heliostatic 14y ago

I wonder if they're using somebody else for the actual assistant. It seems like a big business to build outside your core competency, otherwise. Great feature regardless.

pbreit 14y ago
Wow, that does seem like quite a departure from the original business. And MetaLab pitches itself much more as front-end expert. Is it conceivable this is a front-end for some other virtual assistant service?
- heliostatic 14y ago
  My first thought was FancyHands, but the pricing is different enough that I'm not sure.
  - 1123581321 14y ago
    The pricing is actually the same but TR said it is not backed by FH. https://mobile.twitter.com/tedroden/status/207985910170652673 https://mobile.twitter.com/tedroden/status/20798591017065267...
    - heliostatic 14y ago
      Ah, interesting. I was thinking that there was no $95/unlimited option, but I guess for a white label you wouldn't want it anyway.

taitems 14y ago

This is really exciting. If this stood alone as it's own service and paired with Siri, well... take my money! But something niggling with the banner: the strange depth of field, combined with the sheer size and incorrect angle of the laptop cannot be unseen.

stevedewald 14y ago

As an avid user and supporter of Flow I'm pretty sure this is a step in the wrong direction. The effort it takes to launch another offer in this already competitive market distracts them from some much needed updates to justify their price. I was happy to pay the $10/mo for what looked like a promising service, but with other task management apps making real progress towards helping me manage my tasks and MetaLab focusing on monetization, I'm not sure I'll renew.

metalab 14y ago
Hey Steve, We view this as a business within a business. Nobody from the Flow development team is being distracted with Concierge, it's just another part of the MetaLab umbrella. Also, I find it weird that you think us "focusing on monetization" is a bad thing. What's wrong with having a sustainable business? -Andrew
- taitems 14y ago
  Wow, no idea who's downvoting. Have a sympathetic upvote for answering honestly.

CubicleNinjas 14y ago

After using a few of these services, I realize why they're so useless: you never have a flow. You're interacting with a changing team, with huge time delays (hours in reality) in between request and response. In my experience it would be better placing the same email text in a search engine. Maybe they've cracked this nut though. I can't help but wonder, why go so far out of their core competency? Maybe they've invested in a support team and hope to generate ROI? It just doesn't seem to make sense from a focus perspective.