I’ve been playing around with various sites recently, so here’s some thoughts:
www.mahalo.com : Human-powered search engine.
It’s a nice idea, to have valid results compiled by an expert, but at the current level of answers, it just isn’t going to provide what I need. Most times I’m searching I want to find a quick answer, but mahalo just doesn’t have the coverage I need, and I wonder how fast it’ll grow with the reliance on humans. It’s been running for a while and I’m still struggling to find anything I need which returns a result…Even then, the actual answer ends up being supplied by Google, rather than mahalo.
www.pownce.com : social networking meets file sharing. One question springs to mind. Why, with ftp, file upload sites, and file sharing via MSN etc, would I need, or want, to persuade people to sign up and download another application?
www.iminlikewithyou.com : dating site with bidding. The stand out feature of iminlikewithyou is that you create games to attract bidder to contact you. And bid on other games to get the right to contact them.
Which brings to mind one important question. Why? If I’m looking for friends and dates, I want to log in, find the type of person I’m looking for, and start interacting. Not spend a week constantly trying to bid to win the chance to introduce myself, only to find out that actually, they don’t really want to chat. Gimmick for gimmicks sake…That’s why sites like Faceparty and Flirtomatic continue to have an audience. Men, in particular, are simple people. Don’t confuse us.