Jul 21, 2010

Flipboard makes browsing fun again

Tim Windsor Uncategorized 2 Comments

Pardon me while I gush like one of those cat-eyed girls at Shea Stadium when Ringo and the boys last blew through New York:

WOW!

If you have an iPad, or if you know someone who has an iPad, download Flipboard as soon as you can to get an idea of what a fresh approach to web browsing – you remember browsing, don’t you? - looks like.

The developers call it “your personalized social magazine.” For once, the buzzwords are justified.

At its heart, it’s not all that unusual, taking automated feeds — topics you like, your Facebook news feed, your Twitter feed — and presenting them in an engaging and visually-pleasing way.

But therein lies the beauty of this app. Because, unlike, say, your usual Twitter feed, which is just 140ish characters and a link, Flipboard reaches into that link and presents the content that’s being linked to. If there is no link, the tweets are presented solo, as pithy pullquotes.

Some samples:

And, while this is primarily a browsing tool, you’re not locked out from the social web as you are in some of the toddling efforts from “magazine” magazines. You can comment on or like a Facebook post, reply to a tweet, etc.

To be sure, there are improvements that would be welcome. The ability to sync with Google Reader would be nice. Also, the app’s sudden popularity makes it non-responsive at times, according to the comments on its page. And, as this isn’t meant to be a full replacement for Facebook or Twitter, there’s no way (yet) to create new posts, only contribute to existing content.

I feel like I’ve finally seen something completely new and uniquely tuned to the pad-browsing environment in Flipboard.

UPDATE: The backstory, from ReadWriteWeb.