A Super Review — What’s That?
Jim McNeil and I played around with Zude for almost 2 hours Friday afternoon. While we talked, I heard the teacher in me say, “Most folks won’t see how this has the potential to change the way we interact with information and each other. Communication is fun again.”
This weekend I’ve been reading the pre-launch reviews. I face my keys and realize that the most useful review is not one person’s reporting of features and facts. So, in the spirit of Zude, I’m building a super review by gathering the relevant insights and information from experts all over the Internet. I’ll throw my grown-up kid thoughts in along the way.
6 Experts Weigh In
I can’t help but begin with the way that Zude was introduced to me.
“Zude is a pretty cool tool that allows anyone—we like to say “grandmas to geeks, coders to kids”–to build a website, from scratch, just by dragging and dropping objects from anywhere on the web. Items like photos, text, videos, even widgets can be built into your page, even if you only know how to click a mouse.” said Matthew Kraft when he extended an invitation to talk with Jim McNiel (CEO) about the product.
How cool Is THAT?!!
“McNiel, CEO, and Steve Repetti, CTO of Fifth Generation Systems, “dropped by my table at the Web 2.0 Expo to show off a very cool Web site tool called Zude. It was the coolest thing I saw at the Expo. —Robert Scoble, May 16, 2007 (check out the video
I’m right there with Robert and Robin. WAY Cool is my answer.
So what makes it cool? Well . . .
“But what’s cool is that you can also import entire web pages, and by dragging the URL into your Zude page you are presented with a choice of how you would like to import the content – as an RSS feed, a full-page rendering of the website, an embedded version of the web-page or even a button linking directly back to the source page.
Zude gives you the chance to quickly and easily bring in all kinds of content (dealing with intellectual property issues falls on your own conscience) and quickly remix it into new pages. As such it serves as nice way to aggregate content whether for your own research or future reference, or to share with friends.” —Robin Good, Master New Media
Finally, life on the web is moving to seamless. (Intellectual property here is also an issue of conscience — or Kinkos saying they won’t make copies.)
Who’s going to love it?
“Although it is unquestionably one of the most revolutionary services to hit the Web in a long time — one that, once out of beta, should prove to be equally usable and useful to Grandma as it is powerful to hackers, corporate developers, knowledge workers, and business analysts — once you’re done playing around with Fifth Generation System’s Zude.com, you’ll probably have as tough a time as I am putting your finger on how to categorize it.” —David Berlind, ZDNet
Why can’t it be a category of one? Cirque du Soleil is. People love what satisfies their needs, wants, and desires.
How does it work?
“Essentially, you create a free Zude account and start with a blank canvas, where you can drag and drop anything from the rest of the Web. When logged in, you simply open a new browser window and grab any piece of content you would like – a photo, a video, a widget, or even an entire Web page – and drop it on your Zude page. From there, it can be manipulated, resized, or even given functions such as alt text or hyperlinks. Thus, Zude can serve as anything form a simple personal site, to a tribute to your favorite band, or become the “ultimate mashup†where you combine information from all of your social networking profiles, blogs, widgets, and favorite web sites.” —Adam Ostrow, Mashable
Ever been stuck in the code of a blog theme?
Zude is like playing in the backyard when we were kids. The focus is what and why — the how comes naturally.
Take a look. Here’s to places folks have already made — enlarge them to take a look. Here’s a link to the LizStrauss Zude page.
How is Zude different from the rest?
“There are two main elements that separate Zude from Netvibes and Pageflakes. Zude is not simply a homepage where favorites are visited and utilized, it has an unlimited depth of possible pages and uses. Secondly, Zude uses a sophisticated and fast cross domain drag-and-drop aspect to simplify and dynamically change the way people add content to their pages.” —Phil Butler, Read, Write, Web
It’s fun to move things around (check out the Monty Python-like image library), and it’s deep enough to hold up to professional intent.
What makes it work?
“Content modules are not widgets, but capsules that can hold any webpage code (HTML, Javascript, Embeds). Zude isn’t aiming to create its own widget standard, but simply allow people to host embedded widgets from other sites on their platform. At launch each of these modules will be taggable, ratable, and sharable, meaning if you see a module you like on another site, you can grab it for yourself (like WebJam). The release will also feature their first module with dynamic content, blogging.” —Nick Gonzales, Tech Crunch
All that and a wireless mouse coupled with an idea or two.
What possible weaknesses do the big guys see?
“The interface is fairly painful to navigate at first, at least in Firefox (it’s supposedly better in Internet Explorer; it didn’t work at all in Safari), but with the end goal of putting together a custom webpage, it’s still easier to figure out than Dreamweaver.
It’s also easy to make a really ugly, graphic-heavy web site, replete with clashing colors. As we learned from MySpace, self-expression isn’t always pretty.” — Adena DeMonte, Giga Om
“My only concern is that the platform is too flexible and that users faced with too many choices will shy away from the service.” —Nick Gonzales, Tech Crunch
Kind of sounds like the first release of desktop publishing, doesn’t it? Look where we are with that idea now . . .
Conclusions of a Super Review from 1 Grownup Kid
Why did everyone fall in love with the iPod?
It wasn’t only the technology.
The IPod worked because it was fun. When folks used an iPod, it changed how they felt about themselves and how they experienced the world.
Where are the people in the tech reviews? The facts alone don’t tell the whole story. If they did, the Edsel would have been a hit and the VWBeetle would have been a bomb.
Customers choose what works by what works to make their lives easier and more enjoyable.
Work, play, who we are — surely not perfect and it takes a few minutes to find your feet — sounds like life to me.
Try Zude. I’d really like to know what you think.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
Just what we need: content theft made easier than ever.
Yes, that occurred to me, too — but I think we are still adjusting to this new, virtual, reality. These services *will* exist, and — re: another post here — we can see it as a problem, or an opportunity.
I hope that platforms like this might seduce some of my tech-phobic friends & family to get online and discover what it offers.
Sounds like a super new site.
I wonder why they chose to leave out Mac users?
Believe it, Scorpia. I thought of that. Then I thought of the kids in school.
Sites can lock out Zude — as I found out today trying to copy a picture from my own blog. It’s not as easy as you might think.
Anyway . . . if you’ve got a pencil you can steal content. Should I take your pencils? The potential of this it too grand. 🙂
Hi Jeff!
I’m guessing because the 12% that the MAC would owns offers a challenge financially. Just a guess like I said.
Hi Jeff…
I wanted to let you know that we’re definitely not leaving out the Mac users. It’s just that our initial support had us focused on support for IE and Firefox. If anyone is interested in using Safari or other browsers, you can expect further browser support by the end of the year.
#2 Hi SBPoet!
Welcome!
I’m always opportunity bent. 🙂
I hope you are also.
Getting used to relationships in the virtual world are a thing we all had to make room for. 🙂
Hi Matt!
Welcome!
Thanks for the update and answer to our questions. We take a special note of customer relationships here!
Thanks Matt – If you don’t mind though, I’ll stay in the Missouri room on the Firefox browser working. I use it much of the time, and like it. Many of those who say their sites on Firefox friendly prove to fall a tad short of the mark.
Your site sounds to cool – I hope Firefox works on it. “Painful to navigate” isn’t too promising.
I understand where you’re coming from Jeff, but I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you run Zude in Firefox. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at matt.wulkan@5g.com…more than happy to help anyone out. Or, post here and I’d be happy to respond to your comments here as well.
Matt!
You’re a good guy for coming along to make things clear. I can’t wait until the whole program is done!
Will do Matt – thanks again.
Regarding the issue of copyright, Zude takes this issue VERY seriously. Whenever an object is dragged or copied onto Zude, its original source location is embedded in the resulting object. Then, you can always click on the SOURCE link for any object to determine its origination.
Further, accessing an object’s sorce link also displays relevant copyright information and links for additional information.
And, since an object’s origination is available, it makes it easier for Zude to automatically remove copyrighted material should the copyright owner identify infringing material. It also provides traffic back to the source location.
Non of this is 100% foolproof, however Zude and 5G are commited to providing the best solutions for this extremely important issue, and it will forever be a fine-tuning work in progress.
Liz,
Did Zude give you a link back to your site? Can you add advertising to Zude pages? If so, this could be an awesome tool for Internet Marketers.
Fred,
Zude itself does not add any advertising to your pages — it is entirely up to you (and ultimately the tolerance of your visitors) as to whether you add ads to your Zude pages.
Links “back” can be accomplished directly via dragging the link onto your Zude page (or copying and pasting).
Fred,
Another way of “linking back†to your page is by specifying how you’re “found†on Zude. For that, you can click the Users button, select Edit Your Profile, click the Preferences tab and specify how you want to “Be Found On Zude†by checking the Use Zude Address box.
Additionally, if you do build a relationship with a “partner†and have developed a cross-promotional marketing campaign that includes exchanging logos, links or banner ads, there’s nothing stopping you from adding those types of ads to your pages to generate revenue through your site.
Ever best, Matt
Hi Liz,
Having spend a few years building intranet portals, my jaw has a big scuff mark from the carpeting!
Too bad ZUNE is down and I can’t check it out for myself…
Many, many thanks for the tip on this one!
Mike
zuDe! Sorry about that, guys…
Hi Mike,
It’s still in Beta. Some things still have to happen for it do get to it’s potential . . . 🙂 You have time. 🙂
Hey Mike…all is well. Zude is healthy, happy and waiting for you to play with it. Matt
Thanks, Matt. I kept trying, got in, and signed up. I’m looking forward to experimenting!
I do have a question that you or Liz can answer. When I create a page, how to I get a hyperlink for it? I didn’t see that particular topic in the documentation.
Mike
…perhaps that’s why they call them Frequently Asked Questions. Please disregard previous comment’s question. Doh!
Whenever I load the Zude page, it keeps making this annoying clicking noise. It also looks very slow. Generally nice layout. Like the black buttons.
Hi Annie!
I can’t imagine that clicking noise . . . I hope you’ve told the guys at Zude. :0
Annie…
What you hear is the same sound that’s made when you click on a hot link (inside a page), which takes you to another page. Many browsers actually make this clicking noise when a page is loaded.
The reason you hear it numerous time is because Zude is made up by a number of frame elements (pages) and when each element is loaded it makes that sound.
Should you want to disable this sound, here’s how you’d do it:
– Open control panel (Click the Start button and select Control Panel from the Settings folder).
– Double-click Sounds and Audio Devices (in XP), Sounds and Multimedia (in Windows 2000) or Sounds (in Windows Vista).
– Select the Sounds tab
– Scroll down to the Windows Explorer section and highlight the Start Navigation
– Simply change the sound you’d like to hear, or you can always select “None†and the sound disappears.
– Click Ok and then you’re done.
If there’s something else I may be able to help you out with, please don’t hesitate to contact me at info@5g.com. Hope you and everyone else, had a great weekend. Denali Zude (www.zude.com/denali)
Thanks Matt,
It’s nice to know that you’re listening in. 🙂