What’s the Big Deal About Jaiku?
For months, there’s been this subtle but persistent buzz about Jaiku, the microblogging service that Google acquired last October, and then took into stealth mode.
Having not used Jaiku before Google swooped in, I didn’t have a feel for what Jaiku did or how it was any different from Twitter or Pownce. But I was curious to see why there was so much interest in it.
Step one was getting an invitation, which happened a few days ago.
Step two was signing up, a process that involved getting a confirmation code sent to my Blackberry so I could enter it at Jaiku.com.
Step three was playing with Jaiku to get a feel for what it’s all about.
Conclusion: I’m not sure why anyone would think Jaiku is going to make life difficult for Twitter or, for that matter, Pownce.
From what I can tell, Jaiku is your basic microblogging service with a few nice twists (e.g. the ability to easy add feeds for blogs, music, photos and events. The wildcard may be Jaiku’s interesting mobile offering, which could fit into the gPhone or the Android platform.
Jaiku is very Twitter-like so it’s difficult to see why people would jump on the Jaiku bandwagon when there’s already an established player. Google could always encourage people to use Jaiku by integrating it with other Google services but if anyone was looking to be blown away by Jaiku, they’re probably going to be disappointed.
Before dismissing Jaiku, I want to give it the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps there are features in the pipeline that will make Jaiku more compelling. Maybe Jaiku will resonate as a mobile tool given its European (Finnish) roots. Until that happens, I’ll continue to Twitter and sometimes Pownce.
If you’re also on Jaiku, here’s my Jaiku profile.
For other views on Jaiku, check out WebWorkerDaily and The Inquisitr.
Technorati Tags: jaiku, Google , Twitter
