Two realities/truths exist within the Web 2.0 landscape:
1. It is easier than ever to take an idea and transform it into a start-up given that development, marketing and distribution costs have plummeted since the initial dot-com boom.
2. The are no lack of blogs/bloggers more than happy to write about start-ups even if their prospects for success are, at best, uncertain.
Case in point is identi.ca, which is an open-source, Twitter-like service that launched with a splash yesterday. Its potential – or shininess – has bloggers chewing over whether it is the next Twitter. Of course, this was pretty much the same conversation that happened when Plurk went live recently.
There are a few interesting elements about identi.ca. The fact it uses an open source, Creative Commons framework makes it different. As well, the founder, Evan Prodromou, has some street cred as he and Michele Ann Jenkins Prodromou started WikiTravel before selling it to Internet Brands Inc. For Canadians, there’s a pride factor that identi.ca is using the .ca domain, which recently passed the one million barrier.
But as far as the service itself, there’s little to suggest it’s anything more than another micro-blogger platform trying to catch the Twitter wave. Although more features are on the way, identi.ca has far less appeal than Plurk. Although some of the Twitterati (including myself) have created identi.ca profiles, I can’t see the masses jumping ship.
The question is why do a start-up when there’s already a competitive market with a dominant player. Is it simply because it’s possible to create a better mouse trap without too much of an investment that makes it worth doing?
Or is it just a reality of the entrepreneurial mindset that there’s always room for a new player if it offers a high-quality service?
This build-it-and-they-might-come approach makes the wonderful world of Web 2.0 a fascinating place whether you’re a start-up, consumer, tech blogger or VC. The “tap” is always flowing with something new, and there’s never a lack of people to willing to saddle up to the start-up bar for a taste.
For more on identi.ca’s launch, there’s plenty of choices.
- ReadWriteWeb enthusiastically describes it as “not just another also-ran”, suggesting ‘if you’ve become interested in the paradigm changing model of communication popularized by Twitter but have been frustrated by Twitter’s frequent down time or other shortcomings – then Identi.ca could be for you”.
- VentureBeat talks about how identi.ca is the new flavour of the day for Twitter users previously tempted by Jaiku, Plurk and Friendfeed.
- Dave Winer is, not surprisingly, stoked that identi.ca uses an open-source platform
- TomsTechBlog calls it like he sees it by describing identi.ca as a “half-baked” concept that’s “inferior to Twitter in every conceivable way”.
- TechCrunch has a post declaring that identi.ca has its challenges but “bigger problem with Identi.ca is simply that it is not Twitter”.
Technorati Tags: identi.ca, microblogging, Twitter
2 Comments
So, I think the key value of building an open source tool is shifting value to another part of the market. By making a piece of software that anyone can install, we’re deflating the value of microblogging software in and of itself. Where does that value move? To the service itself — providing hosting for corporate or organization microblogs, guarantees of service for “identicati” who have thousands of followers, or styling a domain name or layout for a particular brand impression.
Can it work? Definitely. People pay for Wordpress.com, LiveJournal.com, and other hosted services that, given the skills and the server space, they could host on their own. The Free Software drains the market for software and focuses on the service itself.
So, why go into a market with an established leader? Because it’s obviously a good market! And whoever goes in with the Open Source software leadership is going to garner the goodwill of that market.
Evan,
Thanks for dropping by and providing some more insight into what you’re doing. It will be interesting to see how indenti.ca does as more people get into micro-blogging.