Facebook app…user friendly
18. Mar, 2009 
4 Comments
I was always a BEBO man, no matter how many people signed up to facebook. I held strong and told them it was crap. That’s not to say I didn’t have an account for viewing friends photos etc. I just never used it. This was all before I purchased an iPhone. With the iPhone came much excitement, twittering, blogging, posting photos instantaneously and so on.
Then one day I downloaded the Facebook App. To say I became addicted was a little of an understatement. I linked my twitters with my facebooks and my facebooks with my twitters. I sent pictures from one to the other, I uploaded links to google maps showing my current position. The madness was endless. Then one day I accessed Facebook on my laptop…disappointing! It was crap! The interface was slow and difficult, confusing even.
But on my iPhone…well the simplicity was just magic. The ease of update and upload made the whole experience, well user friendly.
This is historical my friends. The day when an application or website actually becomes better to access on your mobile device than on an actual computer is groundbreaking. Now perhaps I am the only one (this is where your comments can help) but it is still a tipping point.
The point in time at which we change from one process to another. Mainly it is not noticeable at the time but looking back we can all see it.
Malcolm Gladwell describes Tipping points as “the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable.”
The mobile phone is a perfect example of this. When was it that we all began to text so much. The first commercial text message was sent in 1992 now the number of texts sent everyday exceeds 8 Billion! So where was the tipping point and did anyone notice at the time. There was a point in the history of the mobile phone that it would have been impossible for the telecommunications companies to remove the text feature.
Have Apple creating a tipping point in mobile devices and Internet access or the facebook with their addictive app! With the advent of the new iPhone 3.0 software announced yesterday it appears there is even more scope for all those developers out there to create even more exciting applications (1000 new APIs).
It makes me wish I could develop, instead I wait with bated breath. Go forth developers and make something awesome. Make an application so good that I will become even more addicted to my iPhone. My family won’t thankyou, but I will.
About
I am interested to know when the tipping point towards more human to human interaction will be. I mean its all well and good keeping in contact with old friends on facebook and sharing your inane ramblings on twitter but people will get sick of it and revert to a more personal interaction way of life soon. And i dont mean that in any sort of anti technological way I just mean that reading about your friends/business contacts can never replace actual face to face contact. I think this whole “Social Networking” malarkay will fade out of the mainstream and become a niche “hobby” with a few loyal people who enjoy it, and maybe in the future enjoy a “retro” rebirth much like the slinky or the rubex cube!!
Well this post wasn’t actually about social networking it was more ment as a change in technology from the desk to the mobile. But since you have brought up the whole “social networking” phenomenon, here is my 2 cents.
You are correct in saying nothing can replace face to face contact. I use Linkdin for my business but I also attend several networking events a week, for the exact reason that Linkdin can never replace the human interaction. However our BNI group use Linkdin because it does adds to the interaction between our members.
I think that it will never fade away, these types of sites and interactions are only growing and the next generation use them even more then we do. People said the same thing about TV when it first took hold. Now its just part of life.
I feel the same thing will happen with social networking. It will become part of life and what we do. Take St Patricks Day for example. Social networking tools were used to publish what was going on this year.
The St Patricks Day people had a twitter feed enabling people to share photos with everyone on their perspective/view of the parade. Suddenly we had more cameras watching the event then ever before and people had access to those photos while the event was taking place. The people that ran the festival took several pieces of technology and social networking and integrated them into their plans. People felt involved in the festival and much more apart of it. It didn’t mean people didn’t go. It added to the experience. It is when a tool adds to our social interaction not replaces something else, that it becomes a phenomenon.
Facebook started out as an intranet limited to Harvard University students, now its one of the largest Social Networking sites in the world. Why, because it adds value not replaces something we did before. The tipping point for social networking is long since past. It is here to stay my friend.
Someone once said “The internet, sure that’ll never catch on”
Fin
Was recommended to visit your blog by Deirdre O’Donohue as an example of a man who suffers the same condition as me – an over-twitterer
Looking at your blog, I am getting more and more tempted by the iPhone…don’t know if I can hold off much longer! Well done on a great blog
S
Oh it is an addiction alright. Thanks for the comment,the blog is new the love of technology is not. I highly recommend the iPhone are you currently with O2? I got an unlocked one in Italy. Also, as you probably know the 3.0 iPhone OS is coming out in the summer.
I must offer one word of warning if you are a twitterer and get an iPhone. You will be constantly connected and your addiction will thrive! The tweetie app is amazing as good as the facebook app.
Fin