Mixed Thoughts on That Flock Thing
A few weeks ago, I discovered a new web browser called Flock. At first, I was really excited about it. It seemed to have a lot of promise, by removing one more layer of seperation between the user and the social web. It does more than Firefox does, but seems to do it in a way that is still easy to use, seems to follow the wise “less is more” philosophy of interface design. Speaking of which, Flock also sports a cool new default skin.
However, two weeks later, I found myself going back to Firefox. Why? Flock is a modified version of the Firefox source code, so why do I feel like something’s missing in Flock?
Am I Not Blogger Enough For Flock?
Part of the reason I’m not using Flock all the time is that, to some extent, I think it’s designed to be used by a certain, clique-riddled class of netizens: The class of people who blog a lot, and who actually have people that read their blogs. I’m only aware of one person who reads this blog, so I’m not legitimately a member of the blogger elite that would probably enjoy this browser.
Bookmarks, for Better or for Worse
None of my friends use del.icio.us, either, so what’s the benefit of having the browser use that service for its own native bookmark interface? I do admit they’ve found a creative way to re-imagine the rhetoric of the bookmark: You click a big star button if you like the site, and if you come back to that site later, the star button turns orange, to indicate that Flock knows you like the site. I think that’s a cool idea.
Part of the problem is, in my opinion, the bookmark management interface is too big, too clunky, too invasive and, for now, not nearly aesthetically pleasing enough. I sincerely dread ever having to go to that screen. But this is a very early release; maybe they’ll clean it up later.
From Cool to Cliche
I think one of the big turnoffs of Flock eventually became the skin. The toolbar definitely takes up more screen real estate than Firefox’s toolbar, and the darker shade of gray, mixed with those blue buttons, gives the browser a relaxing, sleep-inducing psychographic effect.
I’m perfectly happy using a Clearlooks based theme for my desktop. Flock just looks really inconsistent with every other program on my computer, and that bothers me, actually. The bottom line is, Apple did a great job creating cool look and feel for an operating system, but everyone else who’s tried to rip them off has turned the Apple look into a cliche. Windows apps should look like Windows apps and Linux apps should look like Linux apps, not like Apple wannabes.
This is Where I Add: “But…”
While I have a few problems with the new browser, I’m not quite ready to join forces with this guy. Flock is still in very early stages of development. Maybe it will end up being the next great thing. I don’t think I used Firefox regularly until it hit 0.7 (it was called Firebird back then). I remember trying it when it was at 0.4 and I said to myself: “Wow, why would anyone make a big deal out of this? This will never replace the Mozilla browser. Boy, did I call that one wrong or what?
There’s no telling what the future will hold for Flock. It could be a great thing, or it could be a bunch of geeks trying to package something they love into something that venture capitalists will pay money for. It is undeniable that the web is going through some fundamental changes right now, as well as some less fundamental changes.
You can’t call something “cutting edge” if it’s still hazy and undefined, but who knows? Maybe this whole “social web” thing will take off. Or maybe it will just supplant Dungeons and Dragons as the ultimate mark of geekiness.