Capitals owner, and all 'round interesting fellow
Ted Leonsis opened up his Ted's Take
blog to the world on Thursday; it's at http://ted.aol.com:
thing you'll notice right off the bat (other than his big grinning
SuperBuddy icon art) -- it's not an AOL Journal.
You might ask, "Joe, you do programming for the
AOL Journals
product. That's your job. Doesn't this make you
angry/upset/scared/foamy?"
You
might be surprised (though frankly, I'm a little surprised at some of
the people who are surprised) to hear that the answer is: No,
it doesn't bother me in the least.
Here's
why.
As part of my role as a programming guy for AOL
blogs, I've given a few talks to groups inside AOL to try to
encourage them to blog. One of the first things I
tell people is that the AOL Journals product is, at its heart, a
personal blogging platform. It has some plusses and
some minuses -- it's really easy to set up and use,
but it just don't do certain things some bloggers might need right
now.
If AOL Editors choose to use it --
we hope they will, there are many
who do, and some of them are doing some neat stuff with it --
I and the Journals team will do everything we can to support them.
However, if AOL Journals isn't the right product
for them, when it comes down to it, I would rather they blog using
third-party software rather than not blog at all.
I was talking to cow-orker and NetGirl
blogger Stephanie, who reminded me of
something folks might be missing: How cool is it that Ted is actually
out here with his blog? These are his words, he's not just talking
about stuffy "official" AOL stuff, and he's been updating it just about
every day (heck, even I have trouble doing
that).
It's not about the
software.
Even more shockingly, I
say the same thing to "regular" bloggers and Journalers. If the AOL
Journals product isn't right for you because it doesn't do A, B or C;
well, I will work with the product guys to try to get it added in an
upcoming release. If we can't do it or the timing doesn't work for you,
you should probably try another product and see how that
goes.
Now, obviously, we want to keep
improving the AOL Journals product to make it
more competitive with other blog products; Product
Manager Susan will have a lot more to say on upcoming
releases, because we've got some cool stuff planned
for AOL Journals in 2006.
Looking at Ted's
blog specifically -- early on, we had some conversations with some of
Ted's team to talk about his blog; they had some specific requirements
that the AOL Journals platform wasn't going to get within their
timeframe. For example, one of those requirements was for
more control over the look and layout of the blog; AOL Journals is
going to get this in the spring with custom skins,
but we're not ready yet.
So, they went with a
custom implementation that exists to serve one
customer: Ted. (You can see what he wrote on this subject here: Why Not AOL
Journals?)
Would I like AOL Journals to
have some of the features that Ted's blog has? You
betcha. You have to understand, though, that there's a big
difference between the work you do to build and maintain a product that
supports one user, versus one that's used by thousands or
millions.
I've also heard, secondhand, of some
grumbling from inside the company about Ted's
decision to not use an AOL product to blog with. Folks -- all that talk
about opening up to the Web? This is it. The point
of Web
2.0 isn't to try to force people into a silo ("You're now
breathing AOL Air™!") -- it's about building an experience that's going
to add value because it lets people plug in the
pieces that are useful to them, in the way they like.
You say you like AIM, Flickr, Google Maps, Moviefone, Fox News, LinkedIn and Digg? We shouldn't try to force
you into using something else -- we should be finding a way that makes
it easier for you to do all these things together, in the way that fits
in to your life.
To reiterate:
* No, I
don't mind that Ted isn't using AOL Journals.
* Yes, we're
going to keep improving and enhancing AOL Journals, so please stay
tuned for new stuff coming in 2006.
* Yes, by all means, try
other products and let us know where we need to improve our own.
* Yes, I'm all out of things to
say.
Thanks -- Joe
18 comments:
I think that Ted should be using AOL journals. He works for AOL for goodness sake. J-land isnt' good enough for him?
Kathy
Hi Kathy -- At a certain point, you get into philosophical territory -- is "J-Land" simply the people who use the AOL Journals product to blog, or can it also include other bloggers who interacts with those bloggers, reading them, linking to them, participating in their conversations, etc., regardless of their blogging software?
Part of the allure of the blogosphere and Web 2.0 is that you don't all need to be using the same software to participate in each other's conversations.
Just a thought. Thanks -- Joe
If you don't stop calling women you work with (Nancie and Stephanie) "COW-workers" -- I'm gonna tell Nancie. Co-workers! CO-WORKERS!
Men!
;-)
I found Ted's blog through the Calacanis one over the weekend. He should have blogged long ago... he's good.
http://jackiestvblog.blogspot.com/
--Jackie
"I was talking to cow-orker and NetGirl blogger Stephanie, [...]"
Was that a typo, or did you intend to call her a cow-orker in public? Oops. ;-)
1. It's not gender-specific. It's very much gender-neutral.
2. It looks like I'm going to have to do a follow-up entry just about my cow-orkers.
Thanks -- Joe
I understand what you're saying, but would you eat at a restaurant when the chef's husband won't eat there? "Buy my product- I don't use it, but..."
Ted should represent right on the A to the Izzy.
That said, I have always felt that the Tedster is a man who makes the right decision, and that he is a fine judge of talent.
A male cow is a Bull.
Do you get kicked in the Hey Joe a lot by people in the office?
Ah, but Monponsett -- to butcher your metaphor -- by blogging with the rest of us, Ted IS eating in the restaurant.
He's just using a different set of plates.
Thanks -- Joe
Call me old. Call me set in my ways, but I just can't come to some sort of agreement with calling AOL journals -- AOL blogs. I know, it's just a word.
I'm wondering, any complaints about how SLOW the AOL File Manager page is loading? And then how sssslllooooowww it's working overall? I'd say I have too many files in the page, but I've used roughly 30. MB of 98 so I don't think that's it.
Pop up controls allow 'this page' and I'm now wondering, in my technoramous mind if the problem has to do with AOL spyware protection or whatever it is ...
Thanks,
Kathy
Hi Kathy,
Right now, AOL Journals is the product and AOL Blogs is the programming page. It's a distinction, albeit a fine one.
Now that you mention it, File Manager has seemed kind of slow lately -- I will check with the Hometown people to see if anything is up.
Not following the popup issue you mention, can you provide more info?
Thanks -- Joe
Joe,
A few important points here. I agree with you that when it comes to blogging, if you have something to say, it's more important that you say it than allow dissatisfaction with a single brand-name product to allow you not to say it at all. That's a perfectly valid point for CONSUMERS.
Ted isn't a consumer. That philosophy DOESN'T work for him. Those of us who noted that his blog wasn't through AOL didn't think, "Well, good for him. He's blogging." We thought, "He's RUNNING the place and even HE thinks AOL Journals aren't worth using." That's the reality of the situation. When you WORK for a company and you use someone ELSE'S product, you send a very DIFFERENT message to that company's customers.
Secondly, Monponsett's restaurant comparison is very valid. And I'm sorry to say that I think you are misinterpreting it when you say that Ted is eating in the same restaurant, but only using "different plates." He's NOT in the same restaurant. He's eating at what he obviously considers to be a FINER restaurant SOMEWHERE ELSE! And therein lies the problem from the consumer perspective: The question from the customer's point of view is, "What's wrong with the food here if the higher-ups who own the restaurant won't touch it?"
Patrick
Please forgive one more point from the CONSUMER point of view:
If AOL is so interested in improving the limitations of AOL Journals, that's all the more reason why Ted should be "confined" to the AOL product: it motivates him all the more quickly to get these vast improvements from drawing board to reality.
If his team feels that AOL Journals is too limited for him, who better to champion the cause of making things right faster?
Patrick
h
I would not have expected him to use AOL Journals. When I looked at the comments where he addressed the Goodmail situation it became clear to me that his blog along with the unique design all help him present his message in an effective manner. I don't think he'd be as effective using the Journal tool to address issues like that one.
I read along in RSS anyhow and Ted's Take looks just like the rest of my feeds.
Wonder if he'll get fined like Cuban did for blog dissing the NBA at some point. Glad to see him blogging. Should be a fun read if he sticks with it.
Patrick,
All I am trying to say is users have to evaluate the Journals product (as with any product) and determine if it's right for them and the way they wish to use it.
Demanding that Ted use AOL Journals for his blog (even if it's not a good fit) would be as silly as saying that because he's with AOL, that the Washington Capitals Web site has to be a Hometown site.
It would be different if AOL was saying, "Because you're an AOL member, we forbid you from using anybody else's software to blog." As I said and as you yourself know, we're not.
We're trying to be open about the product, both where we are right now and where we're headed with enhancements, schedules and new features.
We're working on improving the product, but in the meantime, we're not trying to force anyone to use AOL Journals if it's not right for them. That's all I'm saying.
Thanks -- Joe
Again, Ted is a superb judge of talent.
<<All I am trying to say is users have to evaluate the Journals product (as with any product) and determine if it's right for them and the way they wish to use it.>>
I agree with you completely on that point, Joe.
<<Demanding that Ted use AOL Journals for his blog (even if it's not a good fit) would be as silly as saying that because he's with AOL, that the Washington Capitals Web site has to be a Hometown site.>>
With respect, you're comparing apples to oranges. Most businesses buy their own domain. I never thought AOL Hometown was designed for businesses, anyway. As a consumer, I would EXPECT the Capitals' page to be something like WashingtonCapitals.com. I know of no prominent national business hosting its web presence on AOL Hometown.
But if I saw the chief of Ford Motors driving a Chevy, or the head of Delta Airlines only flying United (when Delta flew the same route), or even a member of the Walton family doing all of their shopping in Kmart, I'm going to wonder why they're not embracing their own product; and I'm not alone in that.
<<We're working on improving the product, but in the meantime, we're not trying to force anyone to use AOL Journals if it's not right for them. That's all I'm saying.>>
I'm glad to see that AOL Journals is being improved. That's a win for AOL, for bloggers, and the blogosphere as a whole.
But AOL isn't in a position to "force" a customer to use only their blog service. It seems reasonable to me that someone in a high position within AOL would at least USE the product, even if he maintains a "primary blog" elsewhere. No matter how well it's justified, it is still sending a message that I don't think AOL means to send.
Patrick
interesting that a lot of aol employees have a blog hosted outside aol...... very interesting.
Judith HeartSong
http://judithheartsong.blogspot.com/
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