Regarding web 2.0 companies who don't get web 2.0, namely Odeo

In case I haven't mentioned it enough, I'm a huge fan of Odeo. Not only does it have a lot of potential, but it's actually not bad for a beta. That said it's got a lot of show stoppers and I keep hitting them. To me they're obvious things too. But anyway I'm going to make this about more than just odeo. What this is about is sometimes companies, even the most of progressive of companies become nameless faceless tools. Seriously, it sound bad, but it's true. I don't need another nameless, faceles tool. I'll go use an ATM, I'll shop at walmart. Anyway, sometimes these well meaning companies that fail to be more than tools they need guidaince. They need tuff love. They need someone to scream at the top of their lungs, wake up!, wake the fuck up!

It sounds harsh, but the truth is that it's just to important not to do, because it's life and death for many of these companies. Especially the new startups. No matter how genius you are, I don't care if you are Evan Williams creator of the famed (and now lamented) Blogger.com, no amount of genius can execute and create a thing of beauty and sucess in a vaccum. Why? Because markets and communities and cultures are incredibly fickle and they are completely subjective. So at some point you have to actually listen to them.. ESPECIALLY in this market where customers and community are the driving force of innovation.

Plus, I'm doing this for my own sanity, because in order to keep using a tool with so much promise and flickr that's so god damn infuriating I have to do this, or I have to leave them. I have to do it to make it fun. So, with out further adieu. I give you my "feedback to Odeo" I posted in thair crappy feedback form five minutes ago. Complete with misspelrings and gramtical errs.

An open letter to Odeo.

This should be fun. :)

Ok, not sure what "past downloads" is doing but it appears to be only things I previous downloaded. In which case I say, WTF, as in why in the hell would I want to know just what I previously downloaded!?

I donloaded them goddamit I've got them on my hardrive and on my iPod, don't you think I know that.

Here's a though. Don't you think it would be a whole lot more useful to be able to see what I missed!? As in, I was on the road for two days, now I'm back, let's see what I missed... This as opposed to your thinking... I'v been out of town for a few days.. let's go see a blank list of stuff I didn't download so I can not do nothin with it. WTF? Clue in already.

So, here, how about this, DON'T choose one or the other, just call the god damn thing "history" and put everything that crossed my queue on it and hilight those items which weren't downloaded as "not downloaded". That way I can selectively re-queue them. Wow, that woud be kickass eh!?

I've written you about this before, but I'm writing again, just to make sure I'm short sucinct and clear about it and of course just ot put some emphasis on the issue.

And on a side note where's the damn Odeo user group!? I'm going to harp about this until it exists.

Start a damn user group already! So I can stop being a dick and being bitter and sending messages into this black whole of a feedback form where who knows if the nameless faceless machine that is Odeo will respond or even register my glorious awesome and genius ideas. (I'd be more modest btw, but if I didn't think they were all important to your existence I wouldn't bother, because of this GOD DAMN USELESS FEEDBACK mechanism. Am I beling clear! Am I beling beligerent(sp?) enough? I mean common, this form is tiny and it doesn't even have a fuscking spell check. Stop shitting on my god's gift ideas already.

It's a bout a partnership with your community goddammit! What do you thing this is web 1.0?

Go flock yourself!
http://flocksucks.wordpress.com/

... and then when your done...

PUT SOME SKIN IN THE GAME! It'll be the best thing you can do for yourself. Help me, help you!

Let the users help you polish your website and help you make it HUMAN and useable. They want too... because they use Odeo, the love odeo, and they want to see it succeed. But if you keep ignoring them they're gonna get lost. I'm gonna get lost. And you don't want that, because you obviously are missing half your clue. The half of clue that makes your site usable and humanly accessible. You machine, you tool you.

Sweet! I'm glad we got that out of the way.

love, mike of mmeiser.com/blog

For more things that are broken visit thisisbroken.com They have a nice new site and snazy new domain name.

Poop. Mr. Hankey was right. Poop does make the world go around.