Comments on: Amazing New RSS Service: Voicemail

By: McD

McD — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:05:06 +0000

"Helpful Hand": we don't whine about Winer. We critique. We would take these issues directly to the man but alas, he won't entertain complex discussions of his work. He gets upset and we are left to deliver a one-sided analysis here.

Is that fair? Yes. Dave and any other supported is welcome to the debate to add balance to the discussion. We frankly would love the sparks that emerge from something that approaches a serious discussion. Otherwise, as you see... we just pick away at dave's public carcass. (Now I need to get that image out of my head).

Seriously, I am considering finding a new hobby.

By: McD

McD — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 23:59:58 +0000

Wills,

I think the value-add of Dave's potcatcher will be the potential for adding a social network into the mix...

What I don't respect about Dave's take on this is the way he finds existing RSS content (NPR, etc) and eliminates the need to visit them to get the feed details. His service has the potential to create new feeds that don't even refer to the content source.

From a legal perspetive he's on thin ice again w.r.t. a content owners rights and what RSS can enable but shouldn't become a site or products notable feature.

It's always "look at me" and I have issue with that. Giving software away is a good deed. Co-opting media content is not.

I have a similar issue with the essence of FlickrFan. The AP and French photo service allow it but it can't scale and be a sustainable model. Pull the high quality art out of the service and there's not much THERE left.

By: Wills

Wills — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 11:29:31 +0000

Has anybody used his Podcatcher? Lord jesus.

Why doesn't the app follow ANY ui conventions?

Why do I need to open OPML.app to use FlickrFan?

Why do I need to open OPML.app to use the Podcatcher?

Why is Podcatcher only accessible under the Tools menu of OPML.app?

Why are the preferences not in OPML > Preferences like every other app on OSX, but via a frickin HTML page?

Why has this app created a Podcatcher folder on my Desktop without asking?

Why would anybody in their right mind use Podcatcher over iTunes?

Why does Dave complain about tech being too difficult (him thinking his iPhone was broken but the ringer was off comes to mine) yet he comes out software with a complete cluster fuck of a UI?

Is there anything unique about FlickrFan? I can subscribe to photo RSS feeds in iPhoto, send them to Apple TV for browsing, sync them wth my iPhone and use them as a screensaver on both my Mac and Apple TV.

It just beggars belief.

By: EyeOnWiner

EyeOnWiner — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:31:50 +0000

Maybe, but you spend an awful lot of time whining about how much we whine about winer’s whining.

By: Helpful Hand

Helpful Hand — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:25:51 +0000

You people whine too much. Coincidence?

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:03:01 +0000

Well this has been done since 2003 with AudBlog, so I’m not sure how it constitutes being so innovative like Dave thinks it is.

By: McD

McD — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:52:02 +0000

Dave Winer makes the point that the service should be used as an "API". He doesn't clarify the statement but I think he means:

use the service get your mp3 recording back from the feed they offer and THEN re-purpose that mp3 as you see fit

In this vein your phone number is never shared with anyone. If you happen to know someones phine number you COULD listen to their private "podcast" feed.

The feedback seems to be driving the BlogTalkRadio people to add a login front-end and create a more secure (or less invasive) URL for the resulting feed. A nice by-product might be group casting on a given account.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:49:08 +0000

But once it's secure and hides the phone number out goes the ease of use and it's just one of many similar services. The big deal here is how easy it is. But that's also the same reason it's so insecure.

Does anyone want to put a message up on Dave's RSS feed? I'm thinking a Republican speech of some sort.

By: Bullshit Mancuso

Bullshit Mancuso — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:55:30 +0000

It’s a nice hack, but as usual Winer cranks the hype up to ridiculous levels. I don’t think that works anymore for him. FlickrFan’s a dud — the only press it got was during a holiday weekend, and the only impact it made was to call attention to great hi-res photos from photojournalists.

By: Helpful Hand

Helpful Hand — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 05:17:54 +0000

You should have skipped this post.