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Obvious Corp. backed Branch comes out of private beta

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Re: Obvious Corp. backed Branch comes out of private beta

#21
post #16
post #9

This is pretty great: https://img.skitch.com/20120813-1iq1gk3ymwrguhy8qe3qi4192s.j...

What is great about this?

it's completely nonsensical duckspeak, the hilarious part is how much it sounds like some of the actual conversations in silicon valley.

Re: Obvious Corp. backed Branch comes out of private beta

#22
post #14
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's ignore how they're pitching the service. I've participated in a Branch[1], and as a replacement for Twitter conversations, it is extraordinary. That's enough for me to keep the bookmarklet handy. [1] http://branch.com/b/for-years-news-developers-have-debated-t...

That seems like a low bar, considering that Twitter conversations were never a good idea.

Agreed, but people are having conversations on Twitter. This seems like a low-friction way to get them to use a better tool for the job.

Re: Obvious Corp. backed Branch comes out of private beta

#25
post #24

Branch seems to want write access to my Twitter account, even just to "request an invite." Does anyone know why? It looks intriguing, but I'm not ready to trust it to that degree.

Sorry for the confusion! We should be more clear about our intentions. We need write access so when you do get an invite, you can invite your friends to branches (via DM or @mention). But we'll never send anything without your explicit permission.

Re: Obvious Corp. backed Branch comes out of private beta

#26
I think this looks interesting, as long as you don't apply the same "X of Y" comparisons.

Someone likened it to a forum, and I think it's a nice take on it. Not necessarily something with SOCIAL all over it.

The promo video was pretty horrible, though. I'm also getting a little tired of Valley videos that make it sound like we're curing cancer or something.

Re: Obvious Corp. backed Branch comes out of private beta

#27
post #23

I hate to be that guy. (And really, I almost never say this). But, coming from the guys who made Twitter, can we talk about how and why this could possibly be monetized? Neat idea. Gorgeous design. But how is Branch Inc sustainable?

You presume that it has to be sustainable to generate a profit.

Re: Obvious Corp. backed Branch comes out of private beta

#28
post #24

Branch seems to want write access to my Twitter account, even just to "request an invite." Does anyone know why? It looks intriguing, but I'm not ready to trust it to that degree.

Sorry for the confusion! We should be more clear about our intentions. We need write access so when you do get an invite, you can invite your friends to branches (via DM or @mention). But we'll never send anything without your explicit permission.

Thanks for the explanation! I would suggest telling users this during signup (right before they auth).

Word of warning to everyone: when you request an invite, there's a pre-checked checkbox labeled "Follow @branch to find out about the best new branches." I like that it's easy to see, but I don't like that it's opt-out.

Re: Obvious Corp. backed Branch comes out of private beta

#29
post #23

I hate to be that guy. (And really, I almost never say this). But, coming from the guys who made Twitter, can we talk about how and why this could possibly be monetized? Neat idea. Gorgeous design. But how is Branch Inc sustainable?

Obvious advises the company, but AFAICT, Branch is a startup with young founders that don't really have any history with Twitter or Obvious.

Re: Obvious Corp. backed Branch comes out of private beta

#30
post #23

I hate to be that guy. (And really, I almost never say this). But, coming from the guys who made Twitter, can we talk about how and why this could possibly be monetized? Neat idea. Gorgeous design. But how is Branch Inc sustainable?

You presume that it has to be sustainable to generate a profit.

He's making a good point -- how can it be sustainable without profit? Of course it needn't be sustainable to generate profit, but that's not what he meant, or said.
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