Habari is still-gestating blogging software that’s already getting some buzz on several prominent blogs. I agree with Robert Scoble that the key takeaway from this is that there’s a feeling out there that Automattic (makers of WordPress and WordPress.com) and Six Apart (makers of TypePad, MoveableType, Vox, and LiveJournal) aren’t good enough and can be improved upon.
It’ll be interesting to see where Habari goes. Will it offer a managed service as well as a private install?
My biggest complaint with WordPress.com — where I’m hosted now — is that true direct revenue opportunites are nearly impossible to wrap into your blog. I’m no ad whore, and I focus on content, but I’d like to be able to move GF in a more commercial direction.
Anyway, competition is always good, and I’ll be watching Habari’s progress and market reception as more and more people participate in its development.
Technorati Tags: blogging, blogs, wordpress, habari, sixapart, google
7 responses so far ↓
Anil Dash // February 19, 2007 at 12:22 pm
I have a ton of respect for the Habari team, and I’m sure they’ll make something very good once they get to releasing versions that are ready for public consumption, but I don’t get the impression they’re going for something at quite the scale of competition you’re thinking. LiveJournal alone has over 12 million registered accounts (and since LiveJournal is open source, its clone sites have millions more) and it takes some effort to get to that kind of scale.
In the meantime, if you want to make some money with your blog, TypePad has the ability to run your own ads built in, along with other niceties like never having to worry about your content being changed and having hundreds of widgets that all work with your blog.
Chris J. Davis // February 19, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Anil is correct, we are trying to make the best blogging package we can, and not really worrying about anything else right now.
And as I recently pointed out on Robert Scoble’s blog, we are hoping to work with SA and Automattic, not destry them. Anil and crew have been amazingly supportive already as have Matt and his bar-b-q loving cohorts.
Jeff Ventura // February 19, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Anil: I’ve considered TypePad before (and still might), but I found the themes lacking and the overall fit-and-finish of the service not up to snuff with what WordPress.com offers. Matt and the guys here have been excellent to work with, and rumor has it that there will be some ad mechanisms coming before too long to help bloggers like me turn the commercial corner.
Nonetheless, I always keep you guys in mind. I read your feed every day, so I know what’s going on.
Thanks for commenting.
Lloyd Budd // February 19, 2007 at 5:34 pm
My advice to anyone building consumer web software is provide a “managed service” if they can. It is the best opportunity to expose problems and successes in all dimensions of a product.
Anil, what is “never having to worry about your content being changed” trying to imply? Or maybe I am misreading it.
Jeff Ventura // February 19, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Chris: I’ll be watching you guys and wishing you the best. Anil has been very helpful to me on this blog when I pose blogging questions, and Matt and the crew at WP have been equally fantastic.
It’s all about community, and new developments in blogging software can only mean good things for the medium.
Anil Dash // February 20, 2007 at 1:41 am
“what is “never having to worry about your content being changed” trying to imply?”
Sorry, not trying to be oblique. We had a good number of people start using TypePad recently as a result of being displeased with having things like Snap Previews being displayed on their blogs without advance notice, particularly because they weren’t allowed to add javascript of their own. I understand where they’re coming from, and don’t want to single out Snap’s product or Automattic’s decision in that regard, just wanted to point out a distinction I think is useful. Your mileage may vary.
(And I think at least a handful of those users are using the Snap widget on TypePad, so everybody wins.)
Lloyd Budd // February 20, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Anil, thanks for the clarification. I imagine others got it the first time, but I needed the context
“advanced notice”: hind sight shows us the problem.
“things like” implies other things and is equally oblique, though I am probably being pedantic.
“a good number of people”:
I am sure we are one of the first to hear when Typepad had an extended outage at the beginning of February, and you when we had an outage a few days ago.
My experience has almost been that no single issues leads people to switch, and there are a continuous flow among the products.
Although the context of this article is competition, I am excited by how all the products meet somewhat different needs — it is a very healthy ecosystem!
Looking forward to seeing you at Northern Voice!