Really… I like the Internet, I really do. So I take it personally when something offends the quality of all things I find great on my quest through Al Gore’s playground. As a result, I really didn’t want to write about ZKOUT, given the happy-go-neato disposition I normally try to find with most applications that don’t really fit my fancy… This one just failed on damn near all levels.
Here’s the good:
- They have a mobile version (m.zkout.com) which is always a nice doo-dad.
- FLEX! I love FLEX stuff…
- Upload photos feature
- Profile creation, woohoo
- Location-based interaction, bonus.
Here’s the bad:
- 3rd-party Social Network Integration? Not that I can see…
- The web interface == Atrocious
- The web interface == Atrocious
- The web int… you get the point
Ok, what’s atrocious about the interface - I’d hate to sound like a complainer without specifics. First, the buttons, bad. The layout of the features - also bad. In fact, the whole thing looks like the older version of drs2006.com … ah I miss that site. Running Internet Radio was fun back in the day. You rookie podcasters don’t know squat about awesome guerrilla radio. Lemme tell ya.
Wow that is a tough review. The guys are still in early beta so it is not expected to be perfect. I find Zkout to be elegant, but then again everyone has different taste.
/FW
Comment by Fred Wilson — May 19, 2008 @ 6:50 am
Fred - I actually didn’t really even want to write this review based on the release version of the site initially, but after a few other people saw the site - I was motivated to share my thoughts, and hopefully give the Zkout designers a little something to think about. The potential is there to make a great site… but they should really look at the early beta release of BrightKite to get a good grab on interface do’s and dont’s.
Comment by nrek — May 19, 2008 @ 8:55 am