Guy Kawasaki is touting a new application called FilmLoop. The company developing FilmLoop is one of Garage.com’s latest children. Guy Kawasaki is one of their directors. Guy wants FilmLoop to be successful.
FilmLoop is an interesting concept but, in my opinion, flawed in its implementation on one major point and one related minor point. FilmLoop ‘allows’ you to upload photos to make ‘loops’ of pictures. So, pictures are grouped according to criteria set by the loop creator. An excellent example is the loop mentioned in this entry in Guy’s blog. The loop contains pictures of the people who read Guy Kawasaki’s blog. OK. That’s pretty cool. However, in order to play with FilmLoops one must download a client. The client is required for all features of FilmLoop. And, at the end of the day, FilmLoop does not offer anything significant over Flickr and other online photo albums. The major flaw is the requirement of a client. Why? What is gained? The minor related flaw is that the requirement of a proprietary client means that if FilmLoop has not developed a client for the platform that your friend/mother/brother/son/sister/whoever uses, they can’t participate in your really cool FilmLoop.
Mostly to prove this to myself (but you are welcome to participate if you so desire) I set up a Flickr group called Smittie’s Rambling Readers. You need a Flickr or Yahoo account to add your photo to the group. There are several options for uploading photos from iPhoto to Flickr. Unlike Guy Kawasaki, I have no books that I can give away as prizes. It might be fun to see who actually reads the drizzle I post here. And that, at the end of the day, is what this is all about. Fun.
Aloha
Smittie,
Let me get this straight: downloading a free client is too much trouble but signing up for a Yahoo or Flickr account isn’t?
In a perfect world, we’d all buy computers with operating systems and Microsoft Office and never install anything else, right? 🙂
Guy
Hum.
So, for all intents and purposes downloading a free client (and signing up for the free account, two steps) on FilmLoop and opening the account on Flickr are about even in hassle points. That’s a wash.
However, insofar as I have been able to determine so far, I can do more with Flickr. For one, I can view, manage and add to my Flickr stuff on any computer that has a web browser. No client download required. Second, I can do more than just look at my pictures in the client on Flickr.
Aloha
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