Tweetworks iPhone App Demo
The First Review of Tweetworks for iPhone
Nothing like a little cold water to wake you up on a Wednesday morning after releasing a product you have been working on for months. Below is the first review of the Tweetworks for iPhone application as submitted to the iTunes app store.
Does not seem very useful? – ★
by Ninja Twitter – Version 1.0 – 27 April 2010
Just got the app… Have 10000s of followers, nothing happen on the main screen and groups… I must be missing something… Maybe usability issue? Looking foward to 1.1… Back to Tweetie… 4 Now!
Ugh! Remember in the Empire Strikes Back when Han Solo tries to make the jump to light speed and the Millennium Falcon’s hyperdrive won’t turn over? Yeah, it feels a bit like that.
I really do wish Apple would provide a way for me to respond to “Ninja Twitter” so I could let him or her know that we have a bug on the API side of things that was the cause of the trouble and that we are working feverishly to fix it.
Some problems just don’t surface until you get a bunch of people using the product. It’s hard to test a web service fully without flipping on the switch and letting the world in. So, last night we had an issue with Twitter mentions not coming in and matching up with Tweetworks threads properly and this morning the entire site crashed which was awesome.
I promise we are working on getting things working as they should to give you the best conversational tools available on the market. Stick with me, this is going to be fun.
Help Wanted – Kick Ass Developers
I have been running Tweetworks as a solo entrepreneur with an outsourced tech team for long enough. It’s time to bring some kick ass development talent in house. If you want to be part of a game changing company that is ready to start making some noise in the Twitter ecosystem and beyond I would love to talk with you.
Check out the About page on Tweetworks for a quick overview of what I’ve built so far to get started thinking about where we might take this thing together. Also, the Tweetworks iPhone app is currently awaiting approval in the iTunes App store at the time of this writing so there’s some more awesomeness there to think about.
Experience tells me I am looking for two people, one to handle the back-end firepower and another to be our front-end UI/UX maestro.
So, you need to be kick ass (as mentioned above), need to want to work on some game changing coolness and you need to be able to bring some of the skills below to the table:
- MySQL and Symfony PHP – Tweetworks is built on a LAMP stack. We are using Symfony 1.4 framework with Doctrine 1.2 for the persistence layer. Knowledge of Domain Driven Design methodology and server side stuff would be helpful here too as you might imagine.
- HTML, CSS, and Javascript – The current Tweetworks site is using a lot of Prototype stuff with a little bit of jQuery and standard javascript mixed in. I’d like to see us working with a more consistent approach with a focus on standards and cross browser consistency.
- Web Services Experience – Tweetworks not only hits the Twitter API substantially but we also have an API of our own so you need to have a command of JSON syntax plus in depth knowledge of HTTP protocol to work with headers and authentication. Demonstrated work with the Twitter API and other ecosystem APIs such as Tweetphoto, Posterous, Tumblr and so on would be fantastic.
Now for the fine print. Tweetworks is a self-funded startup. This is not a jump from your job a Big Co for a fat salary type of gig. There will be equity awarded in the early stages to make up for the lack of kick ass salary which we intend to make more valuable than anything Big Co could ever dream of paying you.
Tweetworks is currently a virtual company so it is not 100% necessary for you to live in the Boston area although it would be ideal if you did for all the reasons you might imagine.
If you find yourself thinking “that sounds cool” you should contact me and we’ll chat. The best way to contact me is via Twitter (hint use Tweetworks). Give me a follow (I’ll follow back) and tweet me up and we’ll get the ball rolling from there.
Seesmic Takes The Lead – What Will Tweetdeck Do To Catch Up?
The Battle
Last week Seesmic finally flexed its muscles and opened up a commanding lead on rival Tweetdeck. I know, Tweetdeck still accounts for substantially more tweet volume than Seesmic (at least that is according to the last report I read) but don’t let that fool you. Remember it was just over a year ago that the twitterverse was gaga over Twhirl until Tweetdeck came on the scene with its columns and a way to group the gozillion people you were following. This space is still moving very fast and today’s 800 pound gorilla can quickly find itself being tomorrow’s also-ran. For the last nine months or so I thought it might just be Seesmic that would be the eventual also-ran but not any longer.
I have been baffled for most of this year as I watched Tweetdeck clean Seesmic’s clock. How on Earth was this upstart from London laying the smack down on Loic and his $12 million team in San Francisco? I came to the conclusion that Loic must not have seen Tweetdeck coming and was caught a little off guard at how quickly Twhirl users and new Twitter users adopted Tweetdeck. It is also important to remember that for the better part of 2009 Seesmic was still trying to get traction with Seesmic Video and while they haven’t shut it down it has most definitely been pushed to the back burner. Last week however, Loic finally dropped the hammer on Tweetdeck.
Distribution Wins
I was wondering when the divergence would begin. Both competitors had been matching each other pretty much feature for feature with very little meaningful differentiation. For most users it came down to a UI preference. But Seesmic has now embarked on a strategy of competing where its substantial capital offers the largest advantage. Distribution.
Seesmic users can now access the product via Adobe Air Desktop Client, the web, Windows Desktop, Android and Blackberry. I’m sure it is safe to assume an iPhone application is not too far off as well. Without raising significantly more capital Tweetdeck simply will not be able to go head to head with a similar strategy. Developing and supporting six or seven applications across six or seven hardware platforms is very expensive and requires a lot of manpower. This task is made significantly harder by the fact that once people find an application they like and are comfortable with they are real tough to convert. Seesmic could very well own the Android market before Tweetdeck gets there. I know there are a lot of Tweetie users who looked at Tweetdeck’s iPhone application and decided to stay with Tweetie.
Openness Leads to Innovation – Twitter Is Open
I met with one of Twitter’s investors not too long ago and was discussing my need to improve distribution for Tweetworks. I told him how I have been hounding Loic and Iain Dodsworth to plug in to the Tweetworks API with no success. He made the observation that it was quite ironic that both of these gatekeepers had built closed platforms off the backbone of an open platform. When I mentioned the rumor that Tweetdeck was supposedly charging developers $50,000 to have their application added he just laughed. Of course I understand why these guys didn’t see the need to add Tweetworks to their applications, our user base is small and their user bases were growing by double digits percentage points every month. But why not create a plug-in architecture like Firefox or WordPress? Heck even Microsoft allows plug-ins from third party developers in Excel, Outlook and other applications. Letting developers expand the utility of your product for your users is just smart.
Guess what? Seesmic finally got hip to this concept too. Loic announced at Microsoft PDC 09 that Seesmic for Windows will have a plug-in architecture. This is a game changer. Instead of me trying to convince people to come to Tweetworks.com I will soon be able to tell them to add the Tweetworks plug-in to Seesmic. I get to extend my distribution, Seesmic gets to offer users a wider variety of services without doing all the work and the user gets to use a service he values from his desktop when he chooses to do so.
This is a playing field where Tweetdeck needs to fight. And they had better hop to it. As I mentioned earlier Tweetdeck currently has a much larger user base than Seesmic, at least that is what the tweet volume would indicate. If given a choice today of which desktop client to develop a plug-in for most application developers would choose Tweetdeck. But the window is opportunity is a short one. If Seesmic gets an appreciable head start here too I think it may spell doom for gents in London. Developers who felt shut out by that $50K admission fee will certainly relish in the opportunity to celebrate a new open platform.
Twitter Lists Have Leveled the Playing Field and Opened the Door
Another new competitive threat to Tweetdeck came from Twitter itself with the launch the Lists feature. Twitter has effectively nullified what was once a high conversion cost asset of Tweetdeck’s. Why create groups in Tweetdeck when you can’t access them from other applications? Now Seesmic users, as an example, can create a list via Twitter and access it on their desktop, the web and their mobile device. The door is also wide open to new entrants and smaller competitors like Tweetie and Spaz.
What Should Tweetdeck Do Now?
- Open Up – Create a plug-in architecture and do it fast. Iain and team should focus their energy on creating an attractive and engaging experience for developers.
- Add Advanced Functionality – It’s time Tweetdeck moved beyond being a simple database query tool with a lightweight posting feature. For starters maybe add a rich contact management system. Right now the application doesn’t know that Mike Langford on Facebook is @MikeLangford on Twitter. This functionality alone would open the doors to some serious analytical tools that leverage the processing power of the desktop.
- Pick a Niche Or Two – Let Seesmic become the Toyota of social aggregation tools. There is still room for BMW. Who uses Tweetdeck and why? Focus on making Tweetdeck the best tool for these users.
- Own Something - Did you notice earlier that I said Seesmic Video is on the back burner? I didn’t say it was dead. How long do you think it will be before Loic adds it to Seesmic desktop and mobile clients? Tweetdeck doesn’t yet own a stream of information. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and now LinkedIn own Tweetdeck’s users. Owning some centralized source of value beyond the desktop and iPhone clients would sure help Tweetdeck’s chance of monetizing. This is especially important as Seesmic can continue to force Tweetdeck to be locked into giving these clients away for free. It might be smart to look at acquiring or merging with a small web application provider or two whose value would increase dramatically if distributed through Tweetdeck’s client footprint.
Conclusion
Seesmic has radically altered the landscape. If Tweetdeck is to remain a strong player over the long term it needs to find new areas of strength and leverage them to the fullest. Sure they could try to raise additional capital to take Seesmic head on in distribution but that might be a tough sell to investors. The money guys don’t want to hear how you just go lapped and need money to chase your competitor down in a foot race. They want to hear how you can create sustainable and defensible value of your own.
As for me I am a big fan of both Loic and Iain. I love what they have done and continue to do for our space. I look forward to seeing the Tweetworks plug-in on Seesmic in the not too distant future and hope there is a similar opportunity with Tweetdeck.
This is Why!
Click Here for Larger Size and iPhone Version or Subscribe on iTunes
Tweetworks TV Episode 72 – Mashable, Lotus Connect, OneForty and Twitter Developers
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It was very nice to see Tweetworks mentioned on Mashable again. It is exciting to be part of such a vibrant development community.
In other awesome news, Tweetworks user-created groups have crested the 2,600 mark. You have created 2,009 public groups and 606 private groups. That’s incredible. Group count is my most important metric because when the rest of the Twitter development community gets around to understanding what Biz Stone and I know, that meta data (aka relevancy and context) is needed to bring the conversation web to the masses, we’ll see many of them leveraging the foundation we’ve built through our API.
Speaking of community…
Many of my friends, Aaron Strout of Powered, Jim Storer and Rachel Happe of The Community Roundtable, and Bryan Person of Live World are heavily involved with developing and facilitating community engagment. Recently a few of them have mentioned that I should promote Tweetworks’s inherent community assets as a value proposition. I think they may be on to something.
Featured Groups:
- LotusConnections (created by Praveen Pandey) – If you use Lotus Connections as a social software for you busienss be sure to connect with other users and administrators here. On a side note, John Stack of 3 Big Heads, had the interesting idea of plugging Lotus Connections into Tweetworks. Hmm..
- DevelopingTwitter (created by Kristi Colvin) – The Twitter developer community is growing by leaps and bounds. Barely a day goes by without something new and creative hitting the scene. Kristi herself recently released TwitterFace, a branded Twitter interface tool.
All this talk of community, Twitter and the Tweetworks API got me thinking of Laura Fitton‘s new company OneForty (which launched its Alpha today). Laura is working to make it easier for users to navigate the maze of Twitter powered products while giving developers a showcase for their creations. Be sure to pay OneForty a visit to see what’s cooking. I smell some coolness.
The Twitter Business Model Option That No One Is Talking About
As you might imagine I spend a fair amount of time thinking about Twitter and how it plans to monetize. It goes without saying that it actually matters to me and I really, really care about the topic.
When people hear that I’ve invested in the space I almost always get a response like “So, how are you going to make money? I mean Twitter doesn’t even have a plan to monetize.” This of course is pure comedy to me by the way. Seriously, how do “you” know they have no plan to monetize? Just because a private company in a new market segment hasn’t broadcast its business model to the world yet doesn’t mean there isn’t a plan to make money. Just think back a few short years ago to when everyone was saying Amazon.com will never make money. So, the general answer is, I’m not worried about Twitter’s or Tweetworks‘s ability to make money.
I think where people are getting hung up on a potential business model for Twitter is in their perspective. Most people writing about Twitter’s monetization mystery are looking through the lens of a retail user. They ask questions like “Would I pay for Twitter? Would you pay for Twitter?” over and over again. Then of course there is the contextual ad model that we all expect to see at some point. This is the no-brainer and even if Twitter downplays its importance, there should be little doubt that we’ll see a Google Adsense-like contextual ad system. We should expect to see something like this if for no other reason than Twitter’s reliance on third-party applications makes a revenue sharing model necessary and desirable. Cutting developers in on the action has proved to be a windfall for Google and it would be hard for Twitter to pass that opportunity up.
But what if Twitter is thinking more like Microsoft and IMlogic?
Two Problems Facing Twitter and Its Would Be Enterprise Customers
- Scale & Reliability: Jodee Rich of People Browsr, while on a panel about Twitter applications at 140Conf, mentioned that he “wants Twitter to scale” because he sees potential problems ahead. He pointed out the fact that while Twitter’s volume is still a tiny fraction of what we see in the SMS space where there are multiple telcos sharing the load, Twitter’s single pipe represents a significant risk. The “fail whale” is not scalable. As Verizon’s tagline says, “Your phone is only as good as the network its on.” This is true of your Tweets too. What would make Twitter more reliable and better able to scale?
- Control & Flexibilty: We have also seen companies in regulated industries struggle with how to embrace social media, particularly in their use of Twitter, and still meet with their compliance requirements. Think about the financial services firm which is required to store all communications, internal and external, for years. Fidelity Investments isn’t using Gmail, although I’m sure they would love to stop spending millions of dollars a year on email. Fidelity is also not using AIM. Companies in regulated industries are not able to use Twitter no matter how much they would love to use it. What could Twitter do to satisfy these companies’ needs?
The Solution: Twitter’s Version of Exchange Server
Email and IM are effectively free to any retail consumer. Yes, you may have to put up with the contextual ads that Google serves up in your sidebar but people have never been expected to pay for email as a communications mechanism. The same holds true for instant messaging services. As mentioned above however, enterprise customers have concerns and needs beyond the those of the retail customer.
The need for guaranteed up-time, unlimited storage, permission settings for controlling access, and security requirements means that most businesses invest in products and services to manage communications in-house. This is why I think there is a tremendous revenue opportunity for Twitter to create its own version of an Exchange Server-like product. One look at the pricing for Microsoft’s Exchange Server should give you some sense of how attractive this market could be for Twitter.
Twitter’s main asset is not Twitter.com and its API but rather the convention of the user name, 140 character status updates, and all the parameters that go along with making it all run. Why does that need to be on Twitter’s servers to run? I personally would argue that it doesn’t and maybe even that it shouldn’t.
An exchange server offering from Twitter would also solve the problem of scale. Imagine the implication of moving from an API model where much of the Twitter ecosystem is dependent on Twitter’s up-time to a distributed application model. Twitter would be on hundreds, or even thousands of independently managed servers around the word. Each node would operate on the same platform but be customized to meet its own needs. Now imagine what the likes of Tweetdeck, Seesmic, and of course Tweetworks might do with such a system.
What do you think?
- Is Twitter thinking like Google or Microsoft?
- Might this explain why Twitter is slow to roll out obvious, highly desired and often requested features? Maybe they’re just not after the retail play.
Tweetworks TV Episode 71 – Nomar, Tour de France, Honduras and Python
Click Here for Larger Size and iPhone Version or Subscribe on iTunes
Despite the monsoon like rain outside I am in a fantastic mood today. Nomar is back in Boston and saying all the right things about wanting to come back to the Red Sox. Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be coming back but we do have a need for a 5th infielder at the moment so it would definitely be cool. Join me in the Red Sox Nation group to share your thoughts.
Okay, let’s get to some groups.
Featured Groups:
- Tour de France (created by Tweetworks) – Every year some crazy dudes jump on bikes and race for 2,000 miles. Join the Tweetworks peloton and tweet each stage with cycling fans from around the world.
- PrensaHonduras (created by Prensa Honduras) – Stay on top of the breaking news in Honduras.
- TweetworksDevelopers (created by Tweetworks) – In honor of @UltraNurd‘s achievement, he created Python bindings/library for the Tweetworks API, I thought it would be nice to recognize the Tweetworks Developers groups. One of the things that has made Twitter so successful is the army of developers that have contributed to the ecosystem. I’d like to invite those same developers to begin leveraging the Tweetworks API to bring rich conversation features to their applications. Check out the fine work of Nicolas Ward in the following locations:
