Why I’m Back On Jaiku
A little over 60 days ago, I uninstalled Jaiku (for like, the 50th time) from my device. You can read why here. I was moving completely to Twitter. I thought Twitter would be the end. For those that don’t understand the draw, Twitter was like an always-active chat room. You can pull up your Twitter feed and join in on whatever conversation is going on.
However, that’s the problem with Twitter. It’s a feed. It feeds you. You don’t really pull anything from it. It’s just there, constantly shoving things down your throat. So why do I like Jaiku now?
It’s completely the opposite of that. And they have a new mobile beta
app for S60v3 devices. You can read about it here, here, and
watch this video. Also, blogger and friend Ken Camp did something I
like, and revealed it in 3 sections, here here and here. I like this
because for someone who is trying to digest the ideas and uses, it’s
easier to take bite-sized chunks and let them sink in before going to
the next. I may copy his style for my next phone review.
Anyways, Jaiku - it’s cool for several reasons. I’m not in the new
mobile beta. I have way too many things going on at this exact moment
to be able to give such an intensive application a worthwhile beta
test. Why is it cool, though? (and cool enough to dump Twitter?)
1. Feeds - it’s full of them. You can even import other feeds - Flickr, Blip, Blogs, Last.FM, TWITTER, etc. You name it.
Wait, didn’t I say feeds were the problem with Twitter? I did, but the
key with Jaiku is that you can be friends with someone, and then go
cherry-picking through their feeds. I don’t get anyone on my lists’
Twitter feeds. Why? Cause I don’t want to. But I still get their Flickr
updates and everything else. If you’re uploading a bunch of photos of
your cats onto Flickr, I can unsubscribe from JUST that feed, but still
get the rest of yours. I like that.
2. Comments - Rather than attempting to carry on a conversation within
everyone else’s conversation with funky "@Darlamack" prefixes, each
"Jaiku" (or update) becomes its own conversation. It’s wonderful. Also,
anyone can comment, and you can read other people’s comments. Thus, you
increase your friends simply by conversing with them. Novel concept,
really.
3. Presence - yes, there’s still a mobile app that allows you to have a
rich presence indication of your friends, and give them one in return.
Fantastic.
4. Fun little icons - you can add fun random little icons to your
updates. FYI - mine NEVER have any relevance. I usually just pick one
at random. It’s more fun that way.
So what do you think? Ken Camp calls Jaiku a "lifestream aggregator"
and I agree (I think Ken and I have very similar concepts of how
technology should assist and not takeover our lives). You can find me
at rcadden.jaiku.com.
Plus you forgot another reason for liking Jaiku…like your N95, it’s MADE IN FINLAND