Comments on: Musings on mobile social networks http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/ Nic Brisbourne's view from London on venture capital and exploiting change in technology and media Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:08:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Ronan HIggins http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-1337 Ronan HIggins Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:07:48 +0000 http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-1337 Bringing "vastly superior functionality" to the 160x120 pixel phone screen with WAP pages is no easy task. Web-based sites get to enjoy usability features such as ajax that can't be done with WAP. The "independent guys" (exclusively mobile social networks) have to bring something to the table that simply can't be done or is less important on the web. Top of the list would be location. But not just "here's where I am" pinpointing. Location tied into the very essence of what makes social graphs compelling environments to participate and invest time in. In contrast to Flirtomatic's WAP strategy we've decided to invest the resources in J2ME apps to bring some of the Web 2.0 ajax user experience to the phone. It is expensive and consumers have been averse to installing applications on phones to-date, but Google seems to be paving the way for a change with Google Maps for Mobile. Bringing “vastly superior functionality” to the 160×120 pixel phone screen with WAP pages is no easy task. Web-based sites get to enjoy usability features such as ajax that can’t be done with WAP.

The “independent guys” (exclusively mobile social networks) have to bring something to the table that simply can’t be done or is less important on the web.

Top of the list would be location. But not just “here’s where I am” pinpointing.

Location tied into the very essence of what makes social graphs compelling environments to participate and invest time in.

In contrast to Flirtomatic’s WAP strategy we’ve decided to invest the resources in J2ME apps to bring some of the Web 2.0 ajax user experience to the phone. It is expensive and consumers have been averse to installing applications on phones to-date, but Google seems to be paving the way for a change with Google Maps for Mobile.

]]> By: Ronan HIggins http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-11073 Ronan HIggins Thu, 10 Jan 2008 20:07:00 +0000 http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-11073 Bringing "vastly superior functionality" to the 160x120 pixel phone screen with WAP pages is no easy task. Web-based sites get to enjoy usability features such as ajax that can't be done with WAP. The "independent guys" (exclusively mobile social networks) have to bring something to the table that simply can't be done or is less important on the web. Top of the list would be location. But not just "here's where I am" pinpointing. Location tied into the very essence of what makes social graphs compelling environments to participate and invest time in. In contrast to Flirtomatic's WAP strategy we've decided to invest the resources in J2ME apps to bring some of the Web 2.0 ajax user experience to the phone. It is expensive and consumers have been averse to installing applications on phones to-date, but Google seems to be paving the way for a change with Google Maps for Mobile. Bringing “vastly superior functionality” to the 160×120 pixel phone screen with WAP pages is no easy task. Web-based sites get to enjoy usability features such as ajax that can’t be done with WAP.

The “independent guys” (exclusively mobile social networks) have to bring something to the table that simply can’t be done or is less important on the web.

Top of the list would be location. But not just “here’s where I am” pinpointing.

Location tied into the very essence of what makes social graphs compelling environments to participate and invest time in.

In contrast to Flirtomatic’s WAP strategy we’ve decided to invest the resources in J2ME apps to bring some of the Web 2.0 ajax user experience to the phone. It is expensive and consumers have been averse to installing applications on phones to-date, but Google seems to be paving the way for a change with Google Maps for Mobile.

]]> By: nic http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-1334 nic Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:11:09 +0000 http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-1334 Thanks guys. Paul - the point of mobile social networking is to stay in touch with people better - just like online socnets - but with a mobile twist. Status updates are part of that - but being able to quickly share media as you see/capture it is another example. Mark - interesting comment and great to see you getting so much traffic. Java apps are attractive because of what they offer, including address book integration, but they are painful too. I think cracking that zero marginal cost of distribution problem is going to be the key here. Thanks guys.

Paul – the point of mobile social networking is to stay in touch with people better – just like online socnets – but with a mobile twist. Status updates are part of that – but being able to quickly share media as you see/capture it is another example.

Mark – interesting comment and great to see you getting so much traffic. Java apps are attractive because of what they offer, including address book integration, but they are painful too. I think cracking that zero marginal cost of distribution problem is going to be the key here.

]]> By: nic http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-11072 nic Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:11:00 +0000 http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-11072 Thanks guys. Paul - the point of mobile social networking is to stay in touch with people better - just like online socnets - but with a mobile twist. Status updates are part of that - but being able to quickly share media as you see/capture it is another example. Mark - interesting comment and great to see you getting so much traffic. Java apps are attractive because of what they offer, including address book integration, but they are painful too. I think cracking that zero marginal cost of distribution problem is going to be the key here. Thanks guys.

Paul – the point of mobile social networking is to stay in touch with people better – just like online socnets – but with a mobile twist. Status updates are part of that – but being able to quickly share media as you see/capture it is another example.

Mark – interesting comment and great to see you getting so much traffic. Java apps are attractive because of what they offer, including address book integration, but they are painful too. I think cracking that zero marginal cost of distribution problem is going to be the key here.

]]> By: Mark Curtis http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-1332 Mark Curtis Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:53:18 +0000 http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-1332 Hi - I run Flirtomatic. A couple of comments: 1. yes we are wap/xhtml NOT java: we ditched that in 2005 before launch 2. address book cannot be accessed from a browser on any phone that I know of...possibly on the iPhone (we'll know shortly). The APIs are there for java apps but I'd rather eat my hat than launch a java app. 3. zero marginal cost distribution: yes very web 2.0 but this is not the web and the two key elements of viral are not in place viz a) free messaging (email is free, sms not) and b) access to the address book (see above). Expect businesses to grow through clever marketing but viral mobile is ley to be cracked 4. spot on re the independence from operators: it is the right philosophy BUT their portals still control the majority of mobile internet traffic Get it right....and the users are out there...we had 51,000 unique mobile users in December consuming 118m pages..... Hi – I run Flirtomatic. A couple of comments:
1. yes we are wap/xhtml NOT java: we ditched that in 2005 before launch
2. address book cannot be accessed from a browser on any phone that I know of…possibly on the iPhone (we’ll know shortly). The APIs are there for java apps but I’d rather eat my hat than launch a java app.
3. zero marginal cost distribution: yes very web 2.0 but this is not the web and the two key elements of viral are not in place viz a) free messaging (email is free, sms not) and b) access to the address book (see above). Expect businesses to grow through clever marketing but viral mobile is ley to be cracked
4. spot on re the independence from operators: it is the right philosophy BUT their portals still control the majority of mobile internet traffic
Get it right….and the users are out there…we had 51,000 unique mobile users in December consuming 118m pages…..

]]> By: Mark Curtis http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-11071 Mark Curtis Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:53:00 +0000 http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-11071 Hi - I run Flirtomatic. A couple of comments: 1. yes we are wap/xhtml NOT java: we ditched that in 2005 before launch 2. address book cannot be accessed from a browser on any phone that I know of...possibly on the iPhone (we'll know shortly). The APIs are there for java apps but I'd rather eat my hat than launch a java app. 3. zero marginal cost distribution: yes very web 2.0 but this is not the web and the two key elements of viral are not in place viz a) free messaging (email is free, sms not) and b) access to the address book (see above). Expect businesses to grow through clever marketing but viral mobile is ley to be cracked 4. spot on re the independence from operators: it is the right philosophy BUT their portals still control the majority of mobile internet traffic Get it right....and the users are out there...we had 51,000 unique mobile users in December consuming 118m pages..... Hi – I run Flirtomatic. A couple of comments:
1. yes we are wap/xhtml NOT java: we ditched that in 2005 before launch
2. address book cannot be accessed from a browser on any phone that I know of…possibly on the iPhone (we’ll know shortly). The APIs are there for java apps but I’d rather eat my hat than launch a java app.
3. zero marginal cost distribution: yes very web 2.0 but this is not the web and the two key elements of viral are not in place viz a) free messaging (email is free, sms not) and b) access to the address book (see above). Expect businesses to grow through clever marketing but viral mobile is ley to be cracked
4. spot on re the independence from operators: it is the right philosophy BUT their portals still control the majority of mobile internet traffic
Get it right….and the users are out there…we had 51,000 unique mobile users in December consuming 118m pages…..

]]> By: paulsweeney http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-1330 paulsweeney Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:07:51 +0000 http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-1330 This may sound a bit stupid, but one of the things they might need is a reason to exist ! I use jaiku and plazes, and have been contributing to both for over a year. I access via my mobile to "broadcast" where I am, and what I might be thinking about. But is there any real benefit to being mobile, or location aware (at the moment?). In the "early user echo chamber" there is some value in knowing things quickly, thus the amount of journos on the sites. Facebook on mobile (blackberry) does roughly the same thing by broadcasting my "status update". This may sound a bit stupid, but one of the things they might need is a reason to exist ! I use jaiku and plazes, and have been contributing to both for over a year. I access via my mobile to “broadcast” where I am, and what I might be thinking about. But is there any real benefit to being mobile, or location aware (at the moment?). In the “early user echo chamber” there is some value in knowing things quickly, thus the amount of journos on the sites. Facebook on mobile (blackberry) does roughly the same thing by broadcasting my “status update”.

]]> By: paulsweeney http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-11070 paulsweeney Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:07:00 +0000 http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-11070 This may sound a bit stupid, but one of the things they might need is a reason to exist ! I use jaiku and plazes, and have been contributing to both for over a year. I access via my mobile to "broadcast" where I am, and what I might be thinking about. But is there any real benefit to being mobile, or location aware (at the moment?). In the "early user echo chamber" there is some value in knowing things quickly, thus the amount of journos on the sites. Facebook on mobile (blackberry) does roughly the same thing by broadcasting my "status update". This may sound a bit stupid, but one of the things they might need is a reason to exist ! I use jaiku and plazes, and have been contributing to both for over a year. I access via my mobile to “broadcast” where I am, and what I might be thinking about. But is there any real benefit to being mobile, or location aware (at the moment?). In the “early user echo chamber” there is some value in knowing things quickly, thus the amount of journos on the sites. Facebook on mobile (blackberry) does roughly the same thing by broadcasting my “status update”.

]]> By: jamescoops http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-1322 jamescoops Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:33:26 +0000 http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-1322 cheap data! the one place outside of Asia where there's been a real breakout, mass market social network is South Africa - Mxit. no surprise that its dirt cheap there to use GPRS - ~ $0.10 per MB. cheap data!

the one place outside of Asia where there’s been a real breakout, mass market social network is South Africa – Mxit.

no surprise that its dirt cheap there to use GPRS – ~ $0.10 per MB.

]]> By: jamescoops http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-11069 jamescoops Tue, 08 Jan 2008 13:33:00 +0000 http://www.theequitykicker.com/2008/01/08/musings-on-mobile-social-networks/#comment-11069 cheap data! the one place outside of Asia where there's been a real breakout, mass market social network is South Africa - Mxit. no surprise that its dirt cheap there to use GPRS - ~ $0.10 per MB. cheap data!

the one place outside of Asia where there’s been a real breakout, mass market social network is South Africa – Mxit.

no surprise that its dirt cheap there to use GPRS – ~ $0.10 per MB.

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