Comments on: The FriendFeed Desktop Apps Disappoint Me

By: Feedalizr Updates, Still Not A Competitor

Feedalizr Updates, Still Not A Competitor — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:13:26 +0000

[...] an update to their client. However, it’s a bit of a disappointment compared to Alert Thingy (app review), Twhirl (app review), and bTT (app [...]

By: Great AIR Apps I Use | SheGeeks

Great AIR Apps I Use | SheGeeks — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:58:05 +0000

[...] Twhirl is my Twitter client of choice. You can check out my reviews: The FriendFeed Desktop Apps Disappoint Me, Twhirl Integrates Friendfeed: The Chaos [...]

By: Mark Evans

Mark Evans — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:47:59 +0000

I tried Alert Thingy yesterday, and was disappointed that it came nowhere to matching the hype that proceeded it. It was so uninspiring that I removed it within 10 minutes of downloading it.

By: Mark Evans

Mark Evans — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:47:59 +0000

I tried Alert Thingy yesterday, and was disappointed that it came nowhere to matching the hype that proceeded it. It was so uninspiring that I removed it within 10 minutes of downloading it.

By: Mark Evans

Mark Evans — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:47:59 +0000

I tried Alert Thingy yesterday, and was disappointed that it came nowhere to matching the hype that proceeded it. It was so uninspiring that I removed it within 10 minutes of downloading it.

By: Dennis Bjørn Petersen

Dennis Bjørn Petersen — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:06:04 +0000

Great points.

I forwarded the link to @twhirl. Hopefully they'll fix the bugs first.

By: Janet Tokerud

Janet Tokerud — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:52:13 +0000

The whole feature victory at all costs thing is a disease in the software industry that hasn't gone away. Too bad, but inaequitas has a good point. I guess we should cut the developers some slack, but if we don't complain, it would probably be even worse.

By: Wednesday Night Thoughts:Tagging, Podshow, FF Apps and Conferences : The Last Podcast

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:42:21 +0000

[...] vs. Alert Thingy: SheGeeks posted a nice summary of why both of them aren’t ready for prime-time. Both still have too many bugs [...]

By: inaequitas

inaequitas — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:29:23 +0000

While Google would certainly be 'in trouble' to add new features to their products every week, they also have more people assigned to beta testing and the likes.

Generally, features attract new clients more than bug fixes. Especially when these applications are as new as these two, as long as they mostly work, all is well.

In an ideal world, the two (bug fixing and feature implementation) would happen at the same time. However, when the two applications are going 'head to head' like this, developers tend to focus on features.

It is a 'disease' known to all development crews, from Microsoft to the guy in the garage. First few iterations are not that great, there's a rush to do many things at once, but none too well. It is, unfortunately, a state of events throughout the ecosystem.

Think of this: choosing between apps A and B, do you look at the feature list first? And, if app C comes along and does everything A or B do minus the bugs, but it comes way later, how likely are most people to switch?

It's why Twitter still beats Pownce and Jaiku.

By: Voyagerfan5761

Voyagerfan5761 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 01:42:38 +0000

You have a wonderful point here. Fixing bugs should come first over new features. The only exception I can think of is if the new feature is a) simple and easily implemented in a few minutes and/or b) heavily requested by the application's user community.

Imagine if Google spent its time adding features to Gmail every week instead of fixing the few bugs in it…