TechFold - Bold tech & web commentary

Bold tech & web commentary

TechFold is technology discussion, commentary, reviews, and opinions from well outside the valley. There's no koolaid to drink here, and TechFold is not in SL, or on Twitter.

Yahoo!’s Meebo competitor “MyM” - new part of Yahoo!’s tanged social web

Wow - Yahoo is adding another layer to their insane social lack-of-strategy - a meebo-like service called MyM, story broken by Valleywag.

The Wag points out that Yahoo! already has a crowded, disjointed social plate, with overlapping and competing networks in the form of 360 (soon to be decommissioned), Mash, Flickr, Upcoming, Delicious, Mail, etc. Q: Where does MyM fit into this?

A: It doesn’t. That’s the point - Yahoo! is a ship without a rudder. I don’t know if its the stream of widely publicized executive exits, middle-management talent flight, lack of inter-departmental communication, or just cluelessness - but Y! is drifting like a Mary Celeste 2.0.

I like to think of it as the “General Motors” strategy - spinning out half-assed products, and sticking different brands and badges and superficial details on in an effort to capture share in many different demographics. Take a look at GM’s recent history; do you think that a complete lack of central value proposition is good for sustainability?

A: No. Its not. Jerry’s got work to do.

meebo, mym yahoo

Meebo: the Meebome widget builder is pooched (for me)

I really want a MeeboMe widget for TechFold, but I can’t complete the process on MeeboMe.com. I’ve tried it in different browsers, and on different PC’s connected to different networks, over a two day period: no dice. Everytime I get to the username/password screen, I get a goofy AJAX error and indefinite hang. Is it me? Anyone else gotten the widget recently?

meebo, meebome problems

An idea for Google or Meebo: IM + Translation = International Nirvana

If you read this and turn it into some kind of acquisition-worthy business, save a slice of the pie for me, OK?

Anyway: quick and simple - follow with me:

You know how you can translate a string of text (or a web page) via Google or BabelFish, right?
Well… messages in an IM conversation are strings of text.
If you can get a web translation service to work fast enough (Google should be able to make this happen if anyone can), then you can translate an IM conversation in REAL TIME.

That is to say, imagine the following usage scenario:

Set your language in your profile. In my case “English.”
If you’re speaking to someone who’s profile is set in different language (Spanish), the IM software picks that up.
The software then translates each side of the conversation into the correct language so that each participant sees the other’s messages in their native tongue. My English gets translated into Spanish, their Spanish into English.
This is all transparent: you don’t even see the untranslated messages unless you choose too. As far as you can tell, you’re talking to someone that speaks English.

Ok, so online translators are notoriously quirky in their translations: so be it. If speed can be addressed such that the process doesn’t add too much lag, I could see this being a great tool for business, and for generally furthering conversations across borders & cultures.

Personally, I’d see a natural home for this in Meebo: they’re the greatest innovators in the IM space in my eyes. They’d need access to a fast, scalable, and low cost translation API, however. Google - while not on the edge of the market - has the necessary infrastructure pieces ready to go (GTalk, and their translator), the resources to do it, and the corporate chutzpah to try it regardless of business-case shakiness.

So: what’s your take - is there something to this? Has it been done already?

In other news, AltaVista still exists! Who knew?