Moodblurbs and social hardware

One of my colleagues, who knows how much time I spend working in coffeehouses (and probably could see from my Plaze that I'm working at one this morning), pointed this out this morning: Moodblurbs.

Moodblurbs are, on a very basic level, a fun way to communicate. Think of them as three dimensional status messages; or as a silent conversation starter, even as a dating tool.

[The] Moodblurb holder... connects to your laptop (cubicle, bicycle, review mirror, baby stroller - anywhere you want to clip it - but we really had laptops in mind at first), and holds one Moodblurb at a time.

The Moodblurbs are designed to help you express your mood, intentions or humor at the moment. Some of the expansion packs give you the tools to have actual conversations with the blurbs without getting up from that comfy couch seat in the corner of the coffee shop.

They're designed as a way to counter the cafe zombie effect.

In the summer of 2005, we were sitting at Spyhouse Coffee (a favorite of ours in Minneapolis), reading an online article that talked about how with the increasing availability of WiFi (wireless internet), more people were coming out to places like the Spyhouse with their laptops. Cool, right? Yeah, but the downside was that this was having an adverse affect on the coffee shop community - people were staying online, and no longer getting to know the people sharing their public space. In simple terms, strangers weren’t talking to each other.

We began brainstorming about how to get people with their laptops talking again. At first, we were thinking purely in online terms. Then, it came to us (we will argue till the end of time who came up with the actual idea first), that what we needed to do was come up with a way to get the online community to communicate offline in a manner similar to the one they used online.

Moodblurbs is the answer to the question of how to make online messengers and blogs and such three dimensional. The Moodblurb is similar to a short post or a status message, and encourages others to communicate with you - which is why we come up with clever messages online in the first place - to initiate a response.

Of course, the object itself is likely to become an attractor of social interchange, until they stop being novelties.

One thing Moodblurbs and the cafe zombie phenomenon highlights is how laptops and PCs cut people off from their social surroundings, even as we increasingly use them as a tool for communications. My Powerbook lets me keep up with my brother in New York, my father in Kuala Lampur, and my colleagues spread between Santa Cruz and London; but it acts as a barrier to talking to the person at the table next to me.

Some of this has to do with the fact that I'm generally working when I've got my laptop open; but computers do a good job of sucking your attention away from the real world (ironically, even as they can enable a kind of information-charge ADD). They require you to look at them, occupy your hands, and are just complicated enough to require constant monitoring when you're using them.

This leads to a question: when are we going to see a social hardware movement that's the equivalent of the social software movement? Obviously anything that's easier to use is, by definition, going to make you more social just by freeing up some neurons and bandwidth. When will we start seeing devices that make it a little clearer to other people what we're doing, without necessarily showing them what we're reading, working on, etc.?

Technorati Tags: cafe, social software

Comments

[Ann]

Moodblurbs was the brainchild and solely funded by Cynthia French.

Ruben Kinet has not invested one dime of his money into the project, instead he chooses to defraud people of their money.

In February of 2006, I loaned Mr. Kinet over $10,000 for a personal loan and for investment in Moodblurbs.

He has since done a vanishing act.

I would want to warn potential investors and buyers of this product to beware. I have yet to see a return on my money, much less a Moodblurb product.

Steps are in the works to file a claim against Mr. Kinet in district court.

Please feel free to contact me. I would be more than delighted to provide evidence of my claim.

[Ann]

Since I have been threatened with a lawsuit by one of the buddies of moodblurbs or one of the "creators" of moodblurbs itself, I had better be a good girl and sing the praises of R.K., but I can't. I still don't have my money...

[Ann]

A year later, no money has been returned.

Future site to be posted as warning to future investors and clients who feel the need to part with their well-earned money.

[Me]

Ann, have youheard from Ruben Kinet since he took your money? I would like to talk to you about him. I believe he has stolen money from others. Please email me.

[Ann]

I sent an e-mail, but I don't know if it got to the right person. If you need to contact me regarding Ruben Kinet, e-mail me at MorganLaClede@msn.com I know of at least one other person who has almost been a victim of Ruben's scams.

[Ann]

Well, while I have been waiting from an answer from someone on here, Ruben Kinet has stolen from another girl...$5,000 this time. Got an e-mail and chatted with a friend of hers on IM.

Does this crap keep getting better or what? Would be REALLY nice if the person who contacted me on here would follow through and contact me again. That's four people I know personally, that he's stolen from now.