The 2005 World Series of Poker ... Tech Style

My column went up today, which is a day early. After going back and forth on last minute edits with my editor, Jill, this morning, it got sent to Rich, the chief editor, where he decided to put it up today around 11:00am. I initially thought it was a mistake, but he explained the regular Wednesday columnist passed on this week, so he decided to go with mine today. All good.

Anyway, it's not the best piece of writing, but I just geeked out and had fun writing this comparison of the tech world with the world of poker. Check it out!

The 2005 World Series of Poker ... Tech Style
As Yahoo previews its new blogging service, the rest of the players evaluate their hands and place their bets on what will and won't work in the search/portal space of the future.

Last week, I attended a preview session of Yahoo's new blogging and social networking service, Yahoo 360, in which nine people in the slogging space gathered to provide feedback. The discussion was interesting and insightful—and of course everyone was wondering how Yahoo will integrate Flickr, the photo-sharing service it just acquired, into the offering.

In the end, many of these "influencers" indicated they wouldn't use the service—either because it's too simple or because it's closed (among other reasons). Some said that if their friends were heavily integrated into Yahoo products (for example, Yahoo Messenger or Groups), they would recommend it. Only one person stated she would definitely use it. In one of the few positive comments, AlwaysOn editor-in-chief Tony Perkins voiced his belief that the service would work due to Yahoo's huge installed base and the service's tight integration with other Yahoo products. I happen to agree—with the caveat that two additional factors will drive that success: integration with the company's photo products and well-thought-out privacy controls. (full article)


UPDATE: Since the old AlwaysOn site was taken down and posts were not properly transferred, just read the copy at OhmyNews here.