Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Flipboard: an Electric Motor in a Steam Powered World

Ben Vested

I do not write about APPs.  I am just not drawn to reviews.  So this is not a review per-se That said... What is cool about Flipbook is what it represents.  Innovation.  I downloaded Flipboard and spent like 10 minutes just flipping the page back and forth.  It is just so frickin cool.  It is not a finished product but that is beside the point.

When the first electric motors came into use they were used to replace water/steam power in mills.  Mills were designed and optimized over time to make effective use of centralized power.  So when electric motors came along the only way people saw to use them was as a substitute for the water power.  It was years and years before factories and equipment began to be designed around the unique qualities of the new type of motor.

The iPad is an electric motor in a water and steam powered world and Flipboard is the most obvious example I have seen yet of what the future will bring.   We have no idea what this platform will look like in 10 years time.  All the existing magazines on the iPad....  Steam baby.

Look I am not saying Flipboard will survive or replace Wired/Time/People Magazines but something is going to.  The vast majority of stuff that has been produced so far has been regressive,trying to recreate the experience you get with a paper magazine.

At its most basic Flipboard is an RSS/twitter/facebook reader that aggregates your social feeds in a very unique and pleasing way.  The Tweets in your stream are presented with the entire content of the link for you to page thru.  The feeling is very much like the serendipity of reading the sunday paper.

And it is "Made with Love in Palo Alto, California"


The Wow factor is strong with this one .  Itunes Link,   Macworld Review link


The writer has no affiliation with Flipboard or Palo Alto although both seem pretty cool.  I am long Apple.

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