Following up on yesterday's piece about sexism in tech reporting.  

I finally got access to the new-new web user interface for Twitter late last night, and have some conclusions after a few hours of use.  

First, the Times should definitely get a movie critic to work on tech stuff, someone who wouldn't be so snowed by company PR. Because this release is just a re-arrangement of the existing user interface. It's not more or less accessible to non-tech-savvy users than the original interface. The only thing it's going to accomplish is to burn braincells of existing users. I don't think it will cause anyone to stop using Twitter, but it's really hard to imagine it encouraging anyone to start.  

If this were a Muppet movie we'd be amazed they were calling it a new movie, because the puppets sing all the same songs. Maybe Kermit sings one song that Miss Piggy used to sing. And maybe the songs are in a different order. But to call this a new movie? Well, it's not in any way anything new.  

I looked everywhere for a hint of some innovation that would simplify things in a non-cosmetic way and came up with nothing. 

Of course if I overlooked anything, putting up this post will get them posted as comments, so stay tuned. 

Below is a test of the new Embed-A-Tweet feature. Thanks to Shea for the howto. 

Maybe Kermit sings one song that Miss Piggy used to sing.r2.ly/924k

-- Dave Winer .& (@davewiner) December 10, 2011

 

But no matter what, once again, the tech press completely blew it. None of the reports explained why this release was so good for new users, just that it was. And Twitter Corp got their way. By giving the story to press who are known to simply rewrite press releases, they didn't get any negative reviews.  

This system is ripe for reform. I think that's the real story here. And it's not a new one either. Every few years the tech industry goes through this kind of turn. It's one manifestation of a bubble-burst.