Comments on: Location Based Services: How is Shizzow Unique?

By: Jeff the Great

Jeff the Great — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:21:35 +0000

You said: “Shizzow has one thing going for it: it knows business names, not just addresses.”

I keep hearing this and it implies that other services (like BrightKite) don’t have this feature.

I use Brightkite and almost always post by searching for the name of the business I am at and the city I am in. Works for me about 95% of the time.

In fact, I highly suspect that BrightKite and Shizzow are accessing the SAME data. Take a look and compare….you’ll see what I am saying (same format, same order, same results, etc).

Though I hope Shizzow succeeds, I am getting sick of all the ‘homers’ that are hailing this service like it is so unique and special.

People should call it what it is…a cool product form some cool local people. They should be honest like Rick was above: he’ll use it cause it’s local, not cause it offers anything unique. That is totally fine and fair.

You have a great write up, I appreciate your unbiased view and the points you brought up. Probably the most honest post about Shizzow that I have seen.

By: Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for August 15 » Silicon Florist

Silicon Florist’s links arrangement for August 15 » Silicon Florist — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 06:59:27 +0000

[...] Location Based Services: How is Shizzow Unique? Jason Harris writes “Shizzow has one thing going for it: it knows business names, not just addresses. This is useful because I may want to broadcast that I’m at Starbucks on 4th street, but most LBS services will say, “Jason is as 214 4th Avenue”. Having the business name makes it easier for my friends to find me.” [...]

By: Andrew Hodak

Andrew Hodak — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:12:39 +0000

It appears that Shizzow’s model is not extensible beyond individual cities (similar to Dogeball from what I can gather). Location platforms like Fire Eagle and Brightkite are latitude/longitude based and have the ability to operate worldwide, inside and outside of cities, not to mention their APIs. The limiting factor of operating within regions contributed to the demise of Dogeball. Maybe I’m missing something but whats new that Shizzow brings to the table?

By: Rick Turoczy

Rick Turoczy — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 21:15:50 +0000

I think you raise some interesting points. And some topics, no doubt, with which the Shizzow team is currently wrestling, as well.

My take is this: all things being equal, I’d rather “shop locally.” Meaning? If it’s pretty similar to Brighkite, but made in Oregon? I’m going to pick Shizzow over Brightkite.

Just like I tend to use Strands as a lifestreaming service, more than the other non-Oregon services.

Why the hyper-regionalism? Access to the team. Support for the community. And the hope that their success reflects well upon the region as a whole.

By: Ryan Williams

Ryan Williams — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:19:52 +0000

So, my take. Shizzow is a shadow of other LBS like Brightkite and Plazes in terms features and functionality (no SMS, no mobile/iphone, no pictures, etc). I spent a couple months using Brightkite, but it just didn’t see much pick-up locally. I think it’s been called the “location problem” for services like these that are city agnostic, they have a lot of users, but in a particular city, there aren’t enough to make it go viral, and so it dies off.

So, if it’s true that Shizzow is just focused on the Portland region, then perhaps it can get that viral take-up and build a strong service. I wish ‘em luck.