How To Launch Software (Aaron Swartz's Raw Thought)
august 2008 by mottram
As a user, I'm inclined to agree with Aaron. I've been an early user/beta tester of plenty of stuff, and I'd much rather the slow approach of contributing bug reports, inviting people who I think would also like and enjoy the app, ending up with something well-tuned and usable. With "Hollywood" apps, I'll sign up, find bugs but get no response from the developers, because squillions of other users are reporting the same problems, then, more often than not, decide that, despite the hype, I don't really need the app after all - the result is that I'll either tell no one about the app, or slag it off (partly my fault for being a trend slurper, but still...). The prime example of a slow burning launch is Flickr, which was pretty rubbish when I started using it (back when it was basically a GNE spin-off chat room with image-sharing options), but gradually improved to the point that I was pretty much begging my friends to sign up.
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august 2008 by mottram