I decided to dive into using Facebook groups today. So far, I have created a few groups for family and friends. I wasn't sure what to expect. Something like the Old Groups? Or Friend Lists? No, it's like a private mini-Facebook.
When you make a post to a group, the post shows up in the Most Recent News Feed to other group members. People who aren't members of the group don't see the post. It seems like Facebook combined the best part of Friend Lists (privacy settings) and the best of Old Groups (messaging, sharing pics and video, private Wall) to make the New Groups. You can do a group chat or collaboratively edit documents. It will be interesting to see how this ends up working for my groups.
So far, I like what I'm seeing in terms of privacy and integration. Making the groups part of the main news stream will help keep them from getting stale. I'll post an update in a few months (after the holiday season) and give a review of how well my groups took off and which features are good and which ones are lacking.
P.S. I see that Apple is starting a social network based on music and iTunes. It will be interesting to see what happens with that venture.
Share story using icons below:
for my birthday.
I ended up getting the 16 GB so I don't overload it and have to change things out more often. After playing with it for a few hours, I am already in love. I like the free apps I downloaded so far, and I think once I get the navigation down (it's hard for a shortcut-key mogul like me to switch to point and swipe) I'll be in heaven.
I went with the iPod Touch instead of the iPhone because they were identical in the features I wanted, except the Touch has wi-fi instead of 3G. I do need an excuse to be unplugged every now and again and I treat my phones like crap. Plus, with the $20/mo additional fee on the cell bill, this seemed like the best choice for now. The only thing it really lacks in my mind is an integrated camera, which the iPhone does have. However, I just got an awesome digi-cam for Christmas and I can hold back on uploading until I am in proximity of my laptop.
What this means for you readers - all two of you. I have decided to make this blog mobile-friendly by setting up a mobile mirror at http://nodisintegrations.mofuse.mobi/. You can get there by clicking the "Mobile Friendly" icon at the top of this blog. It also means that come Comic-Con this year, there will be nothing stopping me from posting mid-action. We'll have to see if this blog or Twitter wins out on that. I may have finally found a use for Twitter after all this time following others. I can already tell that some sort of stylus would be a benefit.
Here's a quick run down of my initial impressions:
- Video: Much, much better than I expected. So far I've only tested with video purchased via iTunes, but the quality is extremely sharp.
- Audio (built-in speakers): It's audible, but not loud enough to make out over a din of noise. Turning it up full blast sounds very distorted
- Apps: So far, decent free ones and fairly easy to use
- Navigation: Very difficult for keyboard addicts. I have small fingers too and found it hard to always hit the right spot, so I can't imagine what people with sausage fingers do. I think a soft stylus should fix that issue.
- Safari web: Decent. Not anything super surprising, but again, the navigation is not intuitive.
- Orientations: Okay. Many apps and other features don't support landscape when it would make them much easy to use.
- Keying data: The keyboard is decent with a QWERTY structure and some shortcuts depending on what you are entering. Still, it's very easy to mistype.
Overall, I'm pleased and impressed with this device. This is my first Apple hardware purchase (I have been using iTunes at a novice level for a while), but so far I'm not seeing any issues - even with the proprietary data transfer, which the wi-fi helps resolve. As I learn more, I'll post more.
Share story using icons below:
