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Twitter has a massive future...I just hope they continue to open up their API (public XMPP, etc.) so developers can tap into the ever growing resource! I'm not

by ashleyw 18y ago

Twitter has a massive future...I just hope they continue to open up their API (public XMPP, etc.) so developers can tap into the ever growing resource! I'm not a big fan of the billion webapps created everyday which uses Twitter in some way which doesn't dig deep under the skin of the ecosystem, I'm more interested in the fact that twitter is (or will become) a live database of everything happening in the world.

gnaritas 18y ago
> I'm more interested in the fact that twitter is (or will become) a live database of everything happening in the world That's the first description of twitter I've seen yet that actually makes it sound like something interesting, however, I still don't see how it's any different that calling IRC or NNTP a live database of everything happening in the world. Twitter still seems to be like something kids are all excited about for no real reason other than they're too young know it's all been done before in various forms.
- pjhyett 18y ago
  I was stuck in traffic driving home from Lake Tahoe the other week. I scanned the AM channels for 30 minutes trying to find a traffic report to figure out what was going on. Then it hit me, search twitter for "tahoe traffic" and sure enough the first tweet was a report that CHP had stopped traffic due to icy conditions. I got off the highway and took a different way home. Thanks Twitter.
- ryanwaggoner 18y ago
  You're focusing on the technology of twitter, which isn't exciting or innovative at all. What's interesting about twitter is that they've made it extremely simple and accessible for non-techies, who have no idea what IRC or NNTP are, and don't care. As a result, it's breaking into the mainstream and rapidly becoming the "live database of everything happening in the world". Could this have been done with IRC? Probably. But it wasn't.
  - gnaritas 18y ago
    I'm a software developer, of course I'm focusing on the technology, I can't help it. So let me ask you this, how can a developer try and see things from the perspective of not looking at the tech more effectively?
    - steveklabnik 18y ago
      For me, it comes down to my parents. My parents are open to trying new technologies, but they aren't particularly technically skilled. They've been around tech all their lives, but they were never the ones that were into it. A large portion of my uncles and on both sides were, so they've had a lot of exposure. But they're unaware of a lot of the details. Anyway, I've found out that I can learn a lot about how technology interacts with people by talking to them about it. Recently, I've had a few interesting web site ideas, and, after talking to them about it, I've learned what parts of ideas are complicated and what parts are not. Focusing on the simpler aspects means they're more likely to understand (and therefore use) whatever it is I'll eventually build. So, possibly try to think about ideas that way. If you were a user, how would you think about the tech? Someone recently commented on the fact that even though I was sitting at a computer, I pulled out my phone to tweet about something interesting that just happened. I think this shows Twitter's genius: us young whippersnappers are already addicted to text messaging, and Twitter is the perfect application for texting. Not all services work well through SMS, but Twitter does. Look at its popularity in Japan. This means quite a few people already know how to use it, and some people start their Twitter accounts via phone, and never use it in any other way.
      - gnaritas 18y ago
        A. I still don't think twitter is genius and I'm only 34, so I don't feel that I'm just too old. > I pulled out my phone to tweet about something interesting that just happened. B. Why? I don't understand the personality type who finds publicly announcing their every little thought as something attractive. Kids these days seem to think all this social connection is such a great thing but from what I see they're all broken and can't do anything alone without first bouncing the idea of 10 friends for social approval. Has there ever been a more insecure generation? Truly giving meaning to the word "sheeple". Kids these days have virtually no focus and don't appear to think deeply about anything because they're so continually distracted by texting, cell phones, twittering, that they can't sit still for 2 hours to watch a film and actually pay attention enough to enjoy it. I take my 15 year old daughter to a movie, of her choosing, and I want to smash her phone into the ground and strap her head to the back of chair just to make her pay attention to the damed movie that she picked and is making me watch.
- derwiki 18y ago
  Blogging was possible before all the popular blogging platforms appeared; you just had to deal with all the headaches of maintaining a site. I don't think anyone has ever claimed that the technology behind Twitter is groundbreaking, it's just dead simple to post an update over it from any computer or cell phone. Because it's now so universally accessible, non-geeks can do it. Which has made it trendy. Which is making it grow. I think one of the most important lessons that developers can take away from Twitter is to make cool or useful technology available to everyone -- lower the technical barrier to entry.
  - gnaritas 18y ago
    > I think one of the most important lessons that developers can take away from Twitter is to make cool or useful technology available to everyone -- lower the technical barrier to entry. I think that's a lesson we developers should definitely keep in mind more. Frankly, it's hard because we forget just how much we know and things that seem trivially easy to us end up being hurdles to the average user and many of us are simply unaware that it's a hurdle. In all honesty, it's difficult to be a software developer for a few years and not come out thinking most users are just plain stupid.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 18y ago
    one of the most important lessons that developers can take away ... lower the technical barrier to entry This is one of those statements that is so blindingly obvious yet insightful at the same time. I really don't know why programmers don't get it: nobody cares about the technology, they only care what you can do for them. I'm building my first webapp. I'm an embedded software developer: what I know about HTML, CSS & web programming could fit into a thimble. But it's enough to build the app I want to do. The thing is, if I were to bounce the idea off a few programmers I'd immediately hit with resistance: "so and so is already doing it," "no, you need to add this..." "why would anyone use that when they could use Excel..." etc. My idea isn't groundbreaking or innovative. I'm just taking a common task that many non-technical people need to do and simplifying it. And hopefully I can make it easy enough to use that they will part with enough of their hard-earned dollars each month to make it worth my time.

by ashleyw 18y ago

gnaritas 18y ago

> I'm more interested in the fact that twitter is (or will become) a live database of everything happening in the world That's the first description of twitter I've seen yet that actually makes it sound like something interesting, however, I still don't see how it's any different that calling IRC or NNTP a live database of everything happening in the world. Twitter still seems to be like something kids are all excited about for no real reason other than they're too young know it's all been done before in various forms.

pjhyett 18y ago
I was stuck in traffic driving home from Lake Tahoe the other week. I scanned the AM channels for 30 minutes trying to find a traffic report to figure out what was going on. Then it hit me, search twitter for "tahoe traffic" and sure enough the first tweet was a report that CHP had stopped traffic due to icy conditions. I got off the highway and took a different way home. Thanks Twitter.
ryanwaggoner 18y ago
You're focusing on the technology of twitter, which isn't exciting or innovative at all. What's interesting about twitter is that they've made it extremely simple and accessible for non-techies, who have no idea what IRC or NNTP are, and don't care. As a result, it's breaking into the mainstream and rapidly becoming the "live database of everything happening in the world". Could this have been done with IRC? Probably. But it wasn't.
- gnaritas 18y ago
  I'm a software developer, of course I'm focusing on the technology, I can't help it. So let me ask you this, how can a developer try and see things from the perspective of not looking at the tech more effectively?
  - steveklabnik 18y ago
    For me, it comes down to my parents. My parents are open to trying new technologies, but they aren't particularly technically skilled. They've been around tech all their lives, but they were never the ones that were into it. A large portion of my uncles and on both sides were, so they've had a lot of exposure. But they're unaware of a lot of the details. Anyway, I've found out that I can learn a lot about how technology interacts with people by talking to them about it. Recently, I've had a few interesting web site ideas, and, after talking to them about it, I've learned what parts of ideas are complicated and what parts are not. Focusing on the simpler aspects means they're more likely to understand (and therefore use) whatever it is I'll eventually build. So, possibly try to think about ideas that way. If you were a user, how would you think about the tech? Someone recently commented on the fact that even though I was sitting at a computer, I pulled out my phone to tweet about something interesting that just happened. I think this shows Twitter's genius: us young whippersnappers are already addicted to text messaging, and Twitter is the perfect application for texting. Not all services work well through SMS, but Twitter does. Look at its popularity in Japan. This means quite a few people already know how to use it, and some people start their Twitter accounts via phone, and never use it in any other way.
    - gnaritas 18y ago
      A. I still don't think twitter is genius and I'm only 34, so I don't feel that I'm just too old. > I pulled out my phone to tweet about something interesting that just happened. B. Why? I don't understand the personality type who finds publicly announcing their every little thought as something attractive. Kids these days seem to think all this social connection is such a great thing but from what I see they're all broken and can't do anything alone without first bouncing the idea of 10 friends for social approval. Has there ever been a more insecure generation? Truly giving meaning to the word "sheeple". Kids these days have virtually no focus and don't appear to think deeply about anything because they're so continually distracted by texting, cell phones, twittering, that they can't sit still for 2 hours to watch a film and actually pay attention enough to enjoy it. I take my 15 year old daughter to a movie, of her choosing, and I want to smash her phone into the ground and strap her head to the back of chair just to make her pay attention to the damed movie that she picked and is making me watch.
derwiki 18y ago
Blogging was possible before all the popular blogging platforms appeared; you just had to deal with all the headaches of maintaining a site. I don't think anyone has ever claimed that the technology behind Twitter is groundbreaking, it's just dead simple to post an update over it from any computer or cell phone. Because it's now so universally accessible, non-geeks can do it. Which has made it trendy. Which is making it grow. I think one of the most important lessons that developers can take away from Twitter is to make cool or useful technology available to everyone -- lower the technical barrier to entry.
- gnaritas 18y ago
  > I think one of the most important lessons that developers can take away from Twitter is to make cool or useful technology available to everyone -- lower the technical barrier to entry. I think that's a lesson we developers should definitely keep in mind more. Frankly, it's hard because we forget just how much we know and things that seem trivially easy to us end up being hurdles to the average user and many of us are simply unaware that it's a hurdle. In all honesty, it's difficult to be a software developer for a few years and not come out thinking most users are just plain stupid.
- HeyLaughingBoy 18y ago
  one of the most important lessons that developers can take away ... lower the technical barrier to entry This is one of those statements that is so blindingly obvious yet insightful at the same time. I really don't know why programmers don't get it: nobody cares about the technology, they only care what you can do for them. I'm building my first webapp. I'm an embedded software developer: what I know about HTML, CSS & web programming could fit into a thimble. But it's enough to build the app I want to do. The thing is, if I were to bounce the idea off a few programmers I'd immediately hit with resistance: "so and so is already doing it," "no, you need to add this..." "why would anyone use that when they could use Excel..." etc. My idea isn't groundbreaking or innovative. I'm just taking a common task that many non-technical people need to do and simplifying it. And hopefully I can make it easy enough to use that they will part with enough of their hard-earned dollars each month to make it worth my time.