AllPeers - Good in theory
Jan 3rd, 2006 | Comments (0)
Via TechCrunch comes a profile of a new Firefox extension called AllPeers. It's an extension that gives you a permanent buddy list in Firefox, and lets you swap/share files (photos, movies, songs) with your friends and family.
Michael over at TechCrunch has this to say:
Let's get real. Take the world by storm? Millions of users will switch? There are way too many hurdles.
1. It's an extension, so it's not built-in to Firefox. Most Firefox users probably don't even know what a Firefox extension is, much less know about AllPeers. And those that do know about FF extensions will no doubt already be using one of many other free and easy ways to swap files (IM, email, etc.).
2. It only works if everyone on your buddy list is using AllPeers. Which means you'd not only have to get your friends and family members to switch to Firefox if they haven't already, but you'd have to walk them through installing and setting up AllPeers. Good luck walking Mom, Dad and Aunt Sophie through that.
3. It's just not that revolutionary. Why is swapping files via your web browser any better than swapping files via IM or email? It's not really. Granted, AllPeers uses a bit-torrent-esque way of doing the actual file transfers, which is cool and useful, but this fact will be lost on all but a tiny handful of users.
4. AllPeers is currently being developed by seven developers. I could understand one, maybe two developers doing something like this in their spare time, but seven? That seems like a recipe for disaster when you consider all the hurdles the company faces in getting the average user to adopt its product.
Bottom line: If the Firefox team starts bundling AllPeers with their browser, I can see it taking off. But as we've seen all too often with Apple, it's often easier for a parent company to come out with their own version of a popular product than it is to make a deal with a 3rd-party.
As a developer myself, I'm rooting for the AllPeers folks to survive, but I'm not holding my breath.
Michael over at TechCrunch has this to say:
This company is set to take the world by storm. In my opinon this single firefox extension will massively increase the attractiveness of that already popular browser, drawing more millions away from embattled Internet Explorer.
Let's get real. Take the world by storm? Millions of users will switch? There are way too many hurdles.
1. It's an extension, so it's not built-in to Firefox. Most Firefox users probably don't even know what a Firefox extension is, much less know about AllPeers. And those that do know about FF extensions will no doubt already be using one of many other free and easy ways to swap files (IM, email, etc.).
2. It only works if everyone on your buddy list is using AllPeers. Which means you'd not only have to get your friends and family members to switch to Firefox if they haven't already, but you'd have to walk them through installing and setting up AllPeers. Good luck walking Mom, Dad and Aunt Sophie through that.
3. It's just not that revolutionary. Why is swapping files via your web browser any better than swapping files via IM or email? It's not really. Granted, AllPeers uses a bit-torrent-esque way of doing the actual file transfers, which is cool and useful, but this fact will be lost on all but a tiny handful of users.
4. AllPeers is currently being developed by seven developers. I could understand one, maybe two developers doing something like this in their spare time, but seven? That seems like a recipe for disaster when you consider all the hurdles the company faces in getting the average user to adopt its product.
Bottom line: If the Firefox team starts bundling AllPeers with their browser, I can see it taking off. But as we've seen all too often with Apple, it's often easier for a parent company to come out with their own version of a popular product than it is to make a deal with a 3rd-party.
As a developer myself, I'm rooting for the AllPeers folks to survive, but I'm not holding my breath.
