Are Facebook and Path on a collision course?

“I skate to where the puck is going to be.  Not where it has been.” - Wayne Gretsky

Just last week, Facebook launched their “Timeline” to the world and people are excited about it.  Now your profile becomes more than just a moment in time.  It now is a timeline including milestones with photos, videos, and special moments from your entire history.  It really changes the game for what your profile is as well as how you share information with those you are friends with.  The online profile is reborn.

The only problem with Facebook, including their Timeline, is that it’s only effective when you are on your computer or tablet.  Facebook’s mobile application (speaking from the iPhone perspective) is horrible.  It was made for the profiles of the past as well as it’s buggy and extremely slow.  What’s the next step for Facebook mobile?  

They would need an update to show the timeline on a mobile device.  How would something like that look on your phone?  

Enter Path 2.0.  Dave Morin’s creation, PATH is beginning to appear more like his vision for Facebook mobile.  I wasn’t a big fan of the first version of Path for reasons I spoke of on The High D, but their new version is a work of art.  The design appears to be flawless. The app is set up for you to record everything you do into a timeline or the “path” you take.  Sounds like they reached the same place Facebook was headed with Timeline.  The only difference is they reached it from the mobile app side. You can read more about it here.  Dave Morin may be setting his company up for a nice acquisition by Facebook.  

Take a look at some of these screen shots.  

Facebook Timeline:

Path on iPhone mobile:

Just imagine the Facebook mobile app being the Path app. 

What are your thoughts?  

Why I dont care that the iPhone 5 wasn’t released

OK people…enough.  I keep hearing all about how disappointed people are in Apple and in that they did not release the iPhone 5 in October.  I heard the rumor-ville that Cook was holding off on the new phone roll out because of the poor health of Steve Jobs and as a result they kept that ace-in-the-hole to improve the stock price down the road.  

My thoughts?  I disagree.  Everything they were talking about rolling out in the iPhone 5 they rolled out in the iPhone 4S.  The same features.  What that tells me is someone got carried away that there was the 5 coming out and assumed that meant the new iPhone 5. Anyone who’s been paying attention knows the real exciting part of Apple’s October launch was the new iOS5 operating system for the iPad, and iPhone devices.    

I got the update a few weeks early thanks to this article from Lifehacker.com.  So far, it’s awesome and the best part is it’s free and works amazing on the iPhone 4.  Here are the features I already cant live without:

1. The Notification Center - so so so so cool.  The way the notifications show up on the screen and then disappear is slick.  

       2.  iCloud - if you have not heard about this then you may only be an iPhone user.  

In addition to your music, you can also sync your photos, your contacts, your emails, and your work, between your Apple devices (iPad, iMac, Macbook, or iPhone) without a thought.  Apple just makes it work.  I love the idea of iCloud and I will explain why in a follow up post.  

         3.  Reminders - with locations

Give yourself reminders for when you get to a particular location.  Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it.  

I could keep going as there are over 200 new features released in iOS5.  These are just the ones that I use most often.  Did I forget to mention the new camera update? What about the Safari update?  So many exciting features.  

So, what’s up with the new phone then?  Why the iPhone 4S?  Well, if you remember back to one of the first Apple phones, the iPhone 3G, the phone they released afterwards was the iPhone 3GS.  I didn’t search Wikipedia like I should but if I had to guess, the “S” stands for “software” update.  Why wouldn’t they do that after the iPhone 4 as well? That’s exactly what they did.  They are milking that iPhone 4 hardware design.  

Should you buy an iPhone if you dont have one?  Yes.  

Should you get the iPhone 4S? Yes, you will benefit from the Siri Assistant which merges with Wolfram Alpha.  

Should you wait for the iPhone 5? No.  

Should you get an iPhone 4S, iPad2, and a MacBook Air 11”? Only if you want to live a happy life with your technology in the clouds

Do I care that the iPhone 5 wasn’t released?  Not in the slightest.  I was waiting for the new software.  I downloaded the free update.  I smiled.  I am happy.  

LinkedIN finally thinks for themselves

LinkedIN has finally grown up and moved from the Facebook copy cat status and created their own iPhone app.  I can’t believe it took them this long to realize the important of their mobile user.  

I can understand why years ago they modeled their iPhone app after Facebook’s, (http://bit.ly/2hljyz), because they are the monster on the block of social networks, however, their iPhone app is horrible.  I would prefer to access the Facebook app from the web any day over the iPhone app because it’s just poorly made.  However, Facebook made the web interface so difficult to use from mobile that you are forced to use the iPhone app.  I completely get this because Facebook wants you to use their systems for better or for worse.  You are stuck.  So why did LinkedIN copy their iPhone app design?  Simple, they didnt think for themselves and believed that they would be creating something that their users would be used to.  Well, they are not Facebook and they clearly dont have 750 million users.  How did that work out for them? 

I am also a LinkedIN user and in my opinion, I dont go on the system unless I’m on my computer.  Why? Take a guess.  OK enough about LinkedIN and their lack of knowing what their users were looking for on mobile.  I am now excited to say that they have, after growth and a profitable IPO, started to think for themselves and created a clean sheet iPhone app.  Here are some screen shots:

My initial thoughts are, this looks amazing.  I really feel they nailed this redesign.  I am excited to try it out!  It’s nice to see innovation from LinkedIN.

However, the challenge they will still need to address is that their users have been trained to access the site from their computer.  Will they begin to use it regularly?  We will see.  

Dont trust the Apple iPhone App Store ratings

If you are like me then you love new technology apps for the iPhone.  Inside the App store you can search for the newest, most popular apps to hit the scene and while navigating you can choose the app that has the best user reviews.  After all, you can trust the opinions of your fellow iPhone users, right?

Wrong.  The iPhone app store may be misleading you from a rating standpoint.  Notice the rating on this app from the TOP NEW App section:

Based upon this rating it looks pretty good right?  The majority think it’s a solid app. From a marketing standpoint it could be enough to get most to try it out.  Let’s look into this app further:

The number of ratings dropped and so did the rating itself.  Woud you download it now?

Can you trust the ratings you see on the app store?  Maybe, maybe not.  Either way make sure you take a second look before believing what is shown to you.