Comments on: Going ape over MySpace; Browster’s new release

By: ifmyspace

ifmyspace — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 16:15:11 +0000

Browster2.0 is a great idea.
I love myspace and hope it can help me on it!

By: SiliconBeat

SiliconBeat — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 11:59:25 +0000

Clearstone’s David Stern: “Will MySpace eat Its young?”

David Stern is a venture partner at Clearstone Venture Partners. We asked him to contribute a “guest post” on the MySpace ecosystem, given his background as founder of M Networks, which operated within that other great ecosystem: eBay’s. His firm is i…

By: Scott Milener

Scott Milener — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 09:25:11 +0000

Jay,
Browster does not strip out the Ad of the MySpace view. In fact you can see it in Matt’s post, above, the little Chipmunk, click-here Ad.

Also, Browster will do two other good things for MySpace (1) increase page views as users tend to look at about 2x the number of pages in Browster as without, (2) Browster decreases the load on MySpace servers causing a positive impact on their site performance and decreased costs.

Thanks,
Scott

By: Scott Milener

Scott Milener — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 09:19:12 +0000

Matt,
thanks for writing aobut Browster! We really appreciate the kind words. We plan to continue with interesting ‘personalized’ or ‘enhanced’ viewing beyond what you see on a click through as a a second option for web users as they surf. Look for more soon!

Scott Milener
CEO
Browster

By: Jay

Jay — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 08:11:09 +0000

It’s a cool feature, but I think if it ever becomes popular, the MySpace execs will definitely block it because it strips out the Ad Banner on the top of each user profile page. It’s totally against the MySpace policy and rev. model.

As for the question of why MySpace hasn’t closed down the Photobuck links– I think they want to, but they know it’s a bit too late for that. Too many users are using it (and happy with the Photobucket service), and blocking it will be a total PR disaster. People will be screaming “Oh, look, the corporate machine FOX is trying to kill the little guy…”

By: Sandra B

Sandra B — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 07:03:27 +0000

Great post, thanks.
I have been using the Girafa toolbar for a long time now*[http://www.girafa.com] which is the greatest browser helper when searching the web. (try using the “visualize” button on their toolbar – it is magic.
I will definetely give a try to Browster and Coollris, and will look forwrd to any new technologies that will make my life on the web easier.

By: Matt Marshall

Matt Marshall — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 06:50:05 +0000

Why the “red flag” on Kopelman? Can you explain?

By: jeff reynolds

jeff reynolds — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 06:40:39 +0000

I have tried Browster and CoolIris, and CoolIris is a much more elegant solution, and it works on a MAC. Browster does not appear to have a business model, rev share from a thin amount of potential revenue generated in this model does not scale.If its Kopelman investment, it raises a red flag for me.

By: Search Engine WEB

Search Engine WEB — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 23:59:48 +0000

Browster is an interesting and enjoyable tool for workloaded Power Searchers and Researchers.

It is resource demanding, but most techies have powerful systems.

There will probably be many innovative, AJAX-type browser helpers flooding the markets in the upcoming years.

Searching will truly be an awesome and productive experience

By: Dave Yeager

Dave Yeager — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 23:24:58 +0000

I don’t think it is fair to make it sound like MySpace made Photobucket possible. I think it cuts both ways. Photobucket has played a material role in the growth of MySpace.

MySpace is smart and gets this. It’s why they haven’t closed the site down to outside links like Photobucket.

Thoughts?

By: dannyc

dannyc — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 20:32:15 +0000

I, too, have been using Cooliris (and have tried Browster). I don’t know now how others feel, but I like Cooliris more than Browster. Browster seems too more “complex” for its own good(servers, ads, icons, an exe. file, etc.). Cooliris, on the other hand, is add-on and does the job and does it well. There’s a certain elegance to effective simplicity. I also like the fact that Cooliris works on Mac.

By: nik

nik — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 20:10:30 +0000

Sceptical, I don't see browster being more than a feature. There are free plugins that do similar (though you can argue differences): http://ackroyd.de/googlepreview/

By: Menlo Creek Musings

Menlo Creek Musings — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 15:59:18 +0000

Will MySpace Eat Its Young?

This post is labelled Work. For the 4 of the 5 readers of this blog who hate work-related posts, I’m sorry…bear with me! Take deep diaphramatic breaths and it will be over in a second or go read Sandhill Slave

By: Anon

Anon — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 15:39:40 +0000

Correction: In the post above, the sentence should read “CoolIris also works with FireFox and Internet Explorer”.

Apologies.

By: Anon

Anon — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 15:28:42 +0000

CoolIris is another tool that allows previews of links and images when the user hovers over the link:

http://www.cooliris.com/

I’ve been using it for several months now, and find it very useful as I read most blogs and web sites via RSS in my browser (Safari 2.x). CoolIris aslo works with FireFox and Internet Browser.

In addition, tools like CoolIris can offer additional advantages to the visually impaired (currently it does a nice job of clarification/magnification) . I look forward to integration with screen readers. Of course, that pre-supposes that the source web sites are constructed in accordance with WCAG or other accessibility guidelines.