Web Developers

All A Flutter Over Lives Changed By Twitter

Posted by on Jun 4, 2009 | 26 Comments

There should be an image here!Isa Twitter making us lazy? Better put, are we being encouraged and enabled to read/write less due to the success of this social platform? Some critics seem to be pushing in this direction it seems.

Others still, would point out that Twitter is merely a tool, which reflects where its users are at in life at any given moment. So if the tweets are mundane and silly, that is hardly something we can blame Twitter for now is it? Clearly, Twitter is a networking tool as well, but it allows us to communicate without as much unneeded small talk.

Speaking for myself, I find that I use Twitter both for work and play…often within seconds from one tweet to the next. In a big regard, I find it blurring the lines between work and play in my day. How about you? Is Twitter a boon to your world or a curse?

  • http://twitter.com/artclubcaucasus Hans

    I had somehow more expectations of interactions and/or discussions. The level of comments, replies feels very flat-bottomed. I think Twitter is not speeding up enough to improve the user experience and in a way I am now betting on Google Wave and turn maybe back to the much improved Friendfeed.

    Where are the “I like it” + “Comment” function, the embed of TN-images, pipes for different receivers. After a good start my experience with Twitter slowed down, still open for improvements

  • http://www.boxcutters.net Bbox

    Reading less? No WAY! I haven’t been turned on to reading so many articles all over the place ever. In fact, I think that I’ll have to stop loading up my app so that I can reduce my reading and writing in response. It’s a little like how I need to hold myself back from reading this site too often.

  • http://twitter.com/bizurke Bizurke (Andrew)

    Twitter has changed my daily life without question. Something a friend told me a while ago is that he uses twitter like an interactive rss feed reader. I like that idea. I use it to keep tabs on friends, make new friends, and more. But probably more importantly I now get my news, usually much faster, from the twitterati. I know more of what’s going on in my town, in my state, and around the world. I know where the party is going to be on saturday, I just know more. I am better informed because of twitter but I am also constantly opening new tabs in my browser and filling it with links I clicked saying “oh I’ll read that later” eventually I reach information overload, close the browser, don’t save the tabs, and zone out to a show on hulu or something. Lately though, I can’t not pay attention to twitter no matter how hard I try. It’s becoming more my life than a part of my life and that does kind of scare me..

    also.. I got a link to this on twitter and never ever would have seen it otherwise. As a web designer/developer/marketer and all around geek twitter enables me to learn more and keep up with trends I never would have known about otherwise.

  • http://www.flybymusic.com Arianna O’Dell

    As a marketer for a new web start up I have found Twitter to be an extremely useful tool for letting others know about our product. We have been able to use Twitter to communicate business updates as well as offer support/help to our users.

    In addition, being new to the Seattle community, Twitter has enabled me to make connections that would have been very hard to form via email or cold calling. Twitter has helped our business in so many ways and in such a short period of time.

    Would recommend to anyone, though I do admit sometimes there is much ‘noise’ clouding up the status feeds. — But when sorted through, so much great information!

    -Arianna O’Dell
    Founder/Marketer
    http:www.flybymusic.com
    http:www.twitter.com/r_e_on_a

  • http://michaelflux.com Michael Flux

    Hmm… I would say its an even split between work and play for me. On one hand, I have met quite a few very interesting people via it, a few of those people have even turned into pretty good business related acquaintances…

    On the other, its a pretty valuable business tool too. Even with how little links to my own site I post there, it still manages to generate almost 10% of all the visits so I’m quite happy about that.

    One complaint I do have about it, is that once you’re following any more then say a hundred people, it becomes next to impossible to keep an eye on everyone. One thing I wish would be available, is the ability to split people into groups and keep an eye on the groups independently of one another – like you’re able to in TweetDeck.

    Michael

  • http://markuszeller.com Markus Zeller

    Twitter enriches my life, because the people I do follow really post intersting things and I get in contact with people I would never have known without it.

  • William C. Toundas

    My first mac was a 6290, but I had to take it back because it had a logic board problem. My second mac was a 7200, which was a wonderful machine.

  • Jeffrey Murray

    Well my first computer was an apple IIc my family had since I was little, but my first mac was an iBook G4. Its a pity I don’t have either of them anymore.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1050456929 Robert Frederick

    my first mac, oddly enough was a clone, a starmax 3000 that was given to me when I first decided to try my hand at mac hardware. I later assembled a G3 desktop from a pile of parts. I still have both.

  • http://kevinrubin.blogspot.com Kevin Rubin

    My first Mac was a PowerBook 1400 that I bought in 1997 when I finally felt like I had enough money saved up to buy my first Mac (I’d been wanting one since about 1984, but always too low on cash and bought the cheapest PC parts I could get). It was fun.

    Unfortunately, it died a heroic death in 1998… It was in my backpack, on my back, when I got hit from behind by a Jeep. There was an ear shattering *CRASH* noise and I don’t know how long I was face down on the pavement before I crawled home. When I finally tried the Mac a few days later it was damaged inside, though not a scratch or ding on the outside… I think it must’ve absorbed enough of the impact to save me, though…

    It wasn’t my first Apple, though… I went through most of high school with an Apple //e.

  • thomas caroscio

    My first was a Macintosh XL, if that counts as a macintosh. For those who may not be old enough to know what that is, it was a refurbished Lisa, that emulated the Mac OS. I got it in the early 90s and It still powers up, but I do not have it running very often.

  • http://twitter.com/stuff2read Patrick Cooper

    The ill fated Commodore Plus 4, had it for a few days and took it back to the store for the Commodore 64.

  • Anonymous

    I haven’t owned an Apple device yet – I really dislike walled gardens. Plus, I’d ultimately end up installing Slackware or Ubuntu on it, which I can do on a cheaper commodity-component Intel or AMD based device.

    Though my very first computer was a Sinclair ZX81 (in 1981) with the wobbly 16kb RAM pack that when it wobbled reset it. Second computer was a BBC Model B (Christmas, 1983), now that was a usable computer and a great machine to learn about computing and programming.

  • http://twitter.com/dewono Dewono Siswardiyanto

    Powerbook G4 12″ 1.5GHz

  • http://www.jimmccusker.com Jim McCusker

    My first Mac was the 128k Mac that I purchased for college in 1984. Prior to that my actual first computer was the TRS-80 Model II with the 48K expansion interface and two floppy drives.

  • http://twitter.com/charlieisaacs Charlie Isaacs

    I built my first computer, a Heathkit (Zenith) 89. We built our first prototype for on-line shopping in 1983 on this computer, and then ported everything to the IBM PC. We provided hardware and software reviews using PCWorld’s Annual Software and Annual Hardware reviews, and allowed people to buy software online (300 baud and then 1200 baud) and allowed people to download demo versions of the software. We were only a little too early to the market…should have patented everything I guess. :) The name of the company was DirectNet, and Dave Bunnell was our sponsor at PCWorld.

  • http://twitter.com/CatsEyeDesign Bob Dunn

    First one I used, was an Apple e around 1983, then shortly after that bought my first Apple, the Mac 128 K. And since then, well, lot’s of models and I’ve never look back : )

  • Anonymous

    My first ever computer was a Mattel Aquarius in 1983 when I was 6. My first ever Mac was an LCIII in 1993.

  • differentspirit

    I had to look up pictures and specs of old Macs to figure out what my first one was, a Mac Plus. It was my very first computer, so it revolutionized my life in the way, I think, everyone’s personal computers revolutionized their lives at that time. I bought it used from one of the offices where I worked in the late 1980s when they upgraded. I used it until I bought my second, a Performa 475, which I bought new in 1995. I went online with that computer in 1999. My third was an iBook G4, bought new in 2003, which has been casually upgraded several times. I still have both the Performa 475 and the iBook G4. I only use the iBook G4, along with one (a laptop) of three PCs I also own (I’ve always been a switch hitter, although my preference is for Macs). I’m not sure why I keep the Performa (or two of the three PCs)…probably for the same reason people keep their families!

  • http://twitter.com/JackWestMD H. Jack West, MD

    Ironic to think that my family spent over $2K in 1983 on an Apple IIe with a dot matrix printer for me (though it was much loved and well used), then another $2K in 1986 for my Mac as a special discount from the college bookstore, but I think a MacBook Air for $1200 today is criminal (though yes, I bought one). And in that time I’ve gone from 5.25″ floppies to 3.25 in to now no drives. It took a long time to toss the old disks and storage systems, but then, you eventually realize you’re probably not going to use a 5.25″ disk again.

  • Doctor Partridge

    Jessica, a Macintosh IIcx was my first work Mac (if you don’t count ‘Angel’). My own personal one was TARDIS(1) a Mac mini circa 2007 with Leopard

  • http://twitter.com/doctorpartridge The Doctor

    I first used Dr Maher’s lab Mac (a IIx I think) called Angel but my first Mac to ‘own’ in terms of purely personal use was Jessica, a IIcx running 7.1. After her came Kimberley, a Centris 660av on which I wrote up my PhD thesis. I didn’t actually buy my own machine for ages then, until I was living in a friend’s place and needed a machine which was small (but bigger on the inside); TARDIS – this started my Mac mini collection. I renamed it TARDIS1 and she’s become my friend’s daughter’s main machine as I moved onto TARDIS2. I’ve got a TARDIS2b as well and special plans for building a TARDIS3, let alone all the others!!!

  • http://twitter.com/doctorpartridge The Doctor

    As you may notice, I name all my computers, Macs, PCs and everything else. I believe that you ought to name your PERSONAL computers else how can you refer to it? Actually, it allows to form an emotional bond to it (and hence you might look after it better!) than just calling it PC343456 or whatever. Yes, I was an IT Manager and encourage bonding / looking after your kit! My iPad is called Eric, by the way!

  • http://www.facebook.com/paddy260991 Paddy Gordon

    Had a PowerMac G3 years ago then got a MacBook and then a MacBook Pro in 2009

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_R5JXRUMXMAIO5HSSMBYEKK7374 laser

    My first Mac was an Emac G4 and an iMac G3 working together and i loves it

  • Anonymous

    my first and only Mac was a Lisa, which was given to me. it was very basic.