A few days ago TechCrunch wrote about how Dapper, a service that lets you widgetize all kinds of data sources on the web, is releasing a Facebook “AppMaker,” that apparently lets you use the Dapper service to widgetize content in the from of Facebook applications.
From the post at TechCrunch, it’s hard to tell what kind of functionality you get out of the applications you can create. It looks like the applications end up as re-syndication widgets.
Out of curiosity I added the “GooNews” App (Customizeable Google News), which was pretty straightforward: it asked for a Google News Search term, and then it started pumping in the latest headlines for that term.
Some people, like “Mike,” commenter number 17 on the TC post, is completely unimpressed:
Never understood the interest for this company. Mike why do you think there is a value in building tones of useless facebook applications? don’t you think there are enough of those already?
I’m not so sure it’s a bad idea. Facebook is well on its way to being a “platform,” (or at least that’s what I contend), and many people use it as a kind of web dashboard as well.
The same way some people use My Yahoo!, I tend to use Facebook. What’s the harm in sucking a feed into facebook, even if it’s just for me to see on my profile? Maybe I’m not the only one who’s interested in whether or not Abe Vegoda’s alive.
Or, even better, what’s wrong with having a little fun? Making complex things easier to do is one of those things that I find it hard to complain about.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Connie Bensen 09.01.07 at 7:05 pm
I just ran across a new app. tonite. The Hennepin County Library, Minnesota is on the cutting edge with their technology. They allow customers to comment on books in their library catalog Amazon style!
Glenn Peterson is behind their tech & I see that he’s one of 7 libraries that has created a Facebook widget that “allows you to search the Hennepin County Library right from your Facebook profile.” My guess is that you can search, log in & place a request.
Jason Preston 09.03.07 at 10:59 am
@Connie that’s a pretty awesome set of tech to see from a library.
Adding Amazon-style reviews should really be a no-brainer for libraries as well as bookstores, and using Facebook (again as a “platform”) to let people interact with the library catalog is a great idea.
Connie Bensen 09.04.07 at 6:11 pm
What’s really cool is that their library customers LOVE that feature. Four months BEFORE the last Harry Potter was released there was 150 reviews & building! people couldn’t get enough of the anticipation. That’s the powerful phenomenon of social meda. Just as in Amazon the public reviews are more important to people than the traditional reviews.
Facebook Tudor 09.13.07 at 1:16 pm
I found this new app that lets you download all of the photos other people have tagged of you to your computer. That way you can upload them elsewhere, or just have copies.
Its at: http://www.toolsforfacebook.com
Evorgleb 09.30.07 at 10:06 pm
Since Dapper went public with their App maker, I’ve had a chance to build a Facebook App based on the content of my website. t took quite a bit of trial and error to tweak the app to where I wanted it to but I’m fairly happy with the results.
Here’s the link to the app:
http://apps.facebook.com/highbridnation/