The website is live -- but it is still in private alpha. If you have an account, you are probably already browsing, sharing tasks and sending emails. If you are interested in taking a peek at what Jambool's about, drop me a note at: vikas-jamboolinvites -at- jambool.com.
So what is it all about? In part, it's a way for people to save content and context as they spend time online -- both from the browser and from emails. It's also about organizing content into tasks -- task that this content is relevant for. Jambool attempts to automate as much of it as possible -- it finds the best task for your content, it gives you simple, easy to use tools to move your content around and to start tasks. Jambool, though, is also about collaboration -- collaborate on tasks with others, discuss content with them and more.
Eventually, Jambool's also about search and discovery. Cut short your time to find something useful -- browse things others have discovered for tasks siimilar to yours.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Thursday, October 19, 2006
On Long tails and minorities
It sucks to be a part of the long tail.
Of late there's been a quite a bit of talk and coverage about the long tail. Sure, there's huge value in mining the long tail. How can you organize content so that the long tail users can find it? And similar other business mantras. No debate there.
But imagine what it is like to be a part of the long tail. You are a minority that very few people care about. You make so little difference to the democratic system that ignoring you or antagonizing you probably makes little difference to the state of affairs. Here is an example. I recently had to reset the password for my small business online banking account with Bank of America. And I did not remember the one PIN number they needed to be able to reset the password. So I called their custoemr service. I challenge you to connect with the representative who can tell you what to do or who will even say they are the right person to help you. I form a small minority of their customers, and on top of that, my need for small business online banking for the state of California probably is an even more remote edge case for them. And it is no fun to be an edge case.
This is one area where the Web, potentially, can help. Whether you are a part of the long tail, or the thick head, what you are looking for never really seems too far. But is this really true? How many times have you changed your keywords on a search engine to different combinations in order to tweak the results? Can the entire web really be ranked in one order of usefulness for everyone?
Of late there's been a quite a bit of talk and coverage about the long tail. Sure, there's huge value in mining the long tail. How can you organize content so that the long tail users can find it? And similar other business mantras. No debate there.
But imagine what it is like to be a part of the long tail. You are a minority that very few people care about. You make so little difference to the democratic system that ignoring you or antagonizing you probably makes little difference to the state of affairs. Here is an example. I recently had to reset the password for my small business online banking account with Bank of America. And I did not remember the one PIN number they needed to be able to reset the password. So I called their custoemr service. I challenge you to connect with the representative who can tell you what to do or who will even say they are the right person to help you. I form a small minority of their customers, and on top of that, my need for small business online banking for the state of California probably is an even more remote edge case for them. And it is no fun to be an edge case.
This is one area where the Web, potentially, can help. Whether you are a part of the long tail, or the thick head, what you are looking for never really seems too far. But is this really true? How many times have you changed your keywords on a search engine to different combinations in order to tweak the results? Can the entire web really be ranked in one order of usefulness for everyone?
Friday, September 29, 2006
Open your eyes!
"Abre los ojos" -- so goes the morning wakeup call in an interesting Spanish movie by the same name. Open your eyes.
Welcome to the first entry of the Jambool blog. Thank you for visiting! and many more thanks for your interest in Jambool.
Just as our home says, Jambool is still in the "coming soon" mode. We are actively developing towards the first alpha release. Stay tuned!
If anything we need at this moment, it's more hours in the day, and an ability to stay awake for that many hours -- better yet, productive. But wait, that part is done!. Now we just need more hours. Till then, bear with us!
Welcome to the first entry of the Jambool blog. Thank you for visiting! and many more thanks for your interest in Jambool.
Just as our home says, Jambool is still in the "coming soon" mode. We are actively developing towards the first alpha release. Stay tuned!
If anything we need at this moment, it's more hours in the day, and an ability to stay awake for that many hours -- better yet, productive. But wait, that part is done!. Now we just need more hours. Till then, bear with us!
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