Comments on: Tocmags – UGC Java Mags

By: Serge

Serge — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 21:56:14 +0000

Don’t WAP 2.0 offers storage facility for off-line browsing?

By: Russell Buckley

Russell Buckley — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 20:13:37 +0000

Serge – I sometimes think of Java as an off-line browser. It offers instant click-through and access when you’re in an area of poor connection.

Plus in this case, it’s something people can “give” and “keep” which I think is important.

Russell

By: Serge

Serge — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 20:05:57 +0000

If you can do the same blogging thing with XHTML-MP, why go extra step and make users install J2ME app?

By: Anneli

Anneli — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 11:42:32 +0000

I really liked it, simple user friendly… and I can create my own content for my phone and not pay for someone elses poor effort. Most of the mobile companies and operators are pushing content, but you have no choices, they build it you buy it..where is the fun in that!
I built a mag and sms’d to my friends, tres cool..gona try and see how far the next ones gets.
I would like to see more features, like embedded links from the mag, but I am sure that will come in time…hope so hint hint.
Why oh why have this not been done before, the technology is out there… my suspicion is that the content is controlled by the bigger players who are only interested in downloading content at cost, fair enough, but why not offer a service to jo public, thats when tools really find there true form.Hope they make some improments to the funtionality, but otherswise I think they have succedded in embarresing some of the larger players in the content world…and for a free service, top marks.
Anneli

By: Russell Buckley

Russell Buckley — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 09:13:27 +0000

Thomas – I think you’re being a bit harsh here. Is it early for you too?

Certainly, I agree with Ronni – it’s very viral potentially. I have the opportunity to create something and tell people about it for them to download. What can be more viral than that?

Plus the very fact that my humble effort has already had 48 downloads suggests that it’s pretty viral!

I do agree that it could be made more sexy with additional features, but every journey starts with a step. Plus, in my experience, it’s better to launch a product in a simple a state as you possibly can. Then people get to know it and then you add features. A feature-rich product is in danger of being too complicated for people to use.

Russell

By: Ronni Vallum

Ronni Vallum — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 09:02:04 +0000

Russ, thanks for the tip to Tocmag.

I like the idea and I like the simple-ness of the idea. I upload content to a website and others can download it to their phone. I dont get whats not to like. It was easy and free and it worked. I created a private on and now use it as a business card.

I am not sure why Thomas thinks its not viral – I have sent on a Tocmag (top-movies) to friends here and I know they have sent it on to guys in their office.

I think this is blogging for mobile phones isn’t it.

It is a bit feature light but perhaps that will get better over time. I guess the value in this site comes from the quality of content they can attract either fom single end users or from companies looking to spread content over mobiles for free.

By: Thomas Landspurg

Thomas Landspurg — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 07:16:21 +0000

Two remarks:

- realisation is quite average…hard to navigate (who has really read first page up to the end the first time), unsexy user interface, lack of viral feature….

- why go into this direction: user generated content problem on the web has been solved using blog, which is now the most simple and easy way for everybody to publish content.

- they are missing all the interesting features linked to mobile, especially for this kind of app: recommendation, sms, etc….

From the end user point of view, it would make much more sense to have a good personalized off line rss reader, linked to my friend content, and have a way to subscribe to this content?

So I am far from being convinced by the approach…

By: helen keegan

helen keegan — Wed, 31 May 2006 14:33:51 +0000

hmm, there *is* a case for offline content until we have universal online access. As a Londoner, I spend a lot of time on the underground, which ironically, is the place I play around with my mobile phone most – playing sudoku (yes, I admit it!) and solitaire, reading mobizines, updating contacts, clearing out old SMS etc. So until there’s good data access on the move (underground or overground for that matter as signal strength varies dramatically as you travel), there will always be a need for an element of offline content to maintain the user experience. How that is delivered is up for grabs I suspect.

I’ve been looking at tocmags too and think it’s a very interesting proposition. Haven’t had time to get in and do it yet though.

By: Richard Griffiths

Richard Griffiths — Wed, 31 May 2006 13:01:27 +0000

Nice idea. If only it worked on my 6600. All I get is ‘Install russ-Ed1-1?’ – which I do, only to be asked the same question over and over again, and russ-Ed1-1 is a weird name for a (presumably) general purpose mag reader…. ahh! OK, now I get it, russ-Ed1-1 IS an application – I have to quit my browser and start that, and it tells me a bit about the reader and finally, there’s a ‘next’ button and wa-hey, a picture of you!

I think they need to work on the download process – this would put off many people. But I like it enough to have a go.

This sort of thing would be great as a channel for delivering premium content. But then, so would MMS if the price came down to SMS levels. MMS content has a number of advantages – easier to create, simple billing using premium SMS and, most importantly, people already understand it and have the software on their phones.

By: Russell Buckley

Russell Buckley — Wed, 31 May 2006 12:37:44 +0000

Adam – pleased to see you’re a bit happier now

Russell