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Yeah, what |Matt| said.
After reading and writing about blogging books yesterday I began to think about what it is that separates Radio from the other tools, and why this distinction is important.
I don't journal. There is nothing in my personal life worth remarking on, and tools that cater to the user who wants an online personal journal don't appeal to me. I enjoy reading some journals, but had that been all there was to Blogging I would never have tried it myself.
I'm more interested in business and learning, and I need a different tool. I want something that fosters collaboration with less structure, and less intimidation, than formal KM systems. I want to successfully run a virtual company -- something I now believe to be virtually impossible. But I think a transparent, user-friendly, addictive method for getting people to enter the collaborative system is mandatory for any chance of success.
So when I saw Radio's personal content management, networking, and k-logging possibilities I was hooked. It's still a little rough around the edges, but it's a great tool, and I can see tremendous possibilities for using it in business and learning environments.
I agree with Matt, Radio won't ever be right for everyone. There's no reason for it to be. Blogging is becoming a generic descriptor for a set of personal software tools, with specific types emerging for different users. As Dave Winer said:
In 2002, we're beginning to get to a category of software, with lines of delineation -- Movable Type is different from Manila, and Radio is different from Blogger, if one wanted to study a category, the products are lining up to accomodate. Other than that there's little that each blog has in common with other blogs.
There will be plenty of room for different tools in the future, and I look forward to seeing developments from all the BlogTool writers. My eyes have been opened to a new paradigm in web space. Many years ago I naively thought XML would kill the web as a personal medium, making it too inscrutable for all but the brainiest experts.
I was wrong. The BlgTool writers have taken XML to the masses, and it is good. There are many, many people who don't know it yet. But they will. And when they do there will be a BlogTool to meet their specific needs.
Why Radio?.
Why have I choosen Radio over MovableType? It's a question I've asked myself recently.
I think MT looks like an excellent blogging system. In a few years time I think that MT (or son-of-MT) is likely to be the choice for bloggers who need a little more than Blogger (or son-of-Blogger) will provide. I don't believe, as much as I love it, that Radio will be that choice.
However I do believe that Radio could be the klogger tool of choice. Why?
Because Radio has such potential in both a networked (social) and standalone (personal) context. Because Radio is a general computing platform that has been specialized to handle blogging but could also be specialized for a thousand other applications.
I, along with others, are looking to take it to the next stage with k-log ready tools. Userland are doing their part with things like Instant Outlining and RCS.
So, that's why Radio. [Curiouser and curiouser!]
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