Flock Off

Another browser bites the dust and in this case perhaps it is a case of hype over substance. When launched five years ago Flock broke new ground as a social browser, aimed at the socially active.  Facebook's functionality and subsequent growth has left them stranded.

Flock's demise is also perhaps not so surprising considering that their staff were bought up by Zynga in January of this year and are now "working to assist Zynga in achieving their goal of building the most fun, social games available to anyone, any time - on any platform".

Zynga is best known as the brains trust behind social gaming sites such as Farmville.

Flock positioned itself as the 'social browser' when it first appeared on the scene and was based on  the Mozilla platform before switching over to Chromium last year.

Flock grew to more than 10 million users and became the #1 most popular desktop application on Facebook before the talent acquisition by Zynga (the acquisition did not include the technology, service or then CEO so Zynga never owned Flock.com and had nothing to do with today’s shutdown).

Jennifer Van Grove of Mashable, writing in USA Today, says:
Flock is a casualty of the social nature of the Web and Facebook's Open Graph initiative. Web denizens now carry their social graph with them via Facebook and not through the browser. Its shutdown also calls to mind the rise and fall of the once great Flip video camera, which is also being discontinued.

Related articles

• Farewell Flock, the Browser for Social Network Nuts (techland.time.com)
• Zynga drops the Flock: Social browser dies; developers join new team (games.com)
• Social web Browser Flock To Shutdown (webpronews.com)
• Flock Shutters Social Web Browser (mashable.com)

Mega Trend Technologies And Cocktails

The New York Times technology writer David Pogue in an interview with WebProNews highlights the technology trends as he sees them.

One of the most revealing statements relates to the pace of change and how businesses will always struggle to keep pace and capitalise upon new technologies.

Stripped down technologies are replacing developments with multiple features; the notion that simpler is better is finally getting through.

Danny Groner writing in the Huffington Post attended the event and wrote:

"I was amazed by some of the products that Pogue showed off or talked about. A top-of-the-line camera that fits in your pocket. An app that turns your iPhone into a musical instrument. Ways to ensure that you never lose an internet signal. 

These products will encourage creativity and connectivity, and Pogue is helping to escort in a new era. His hour-long presentation carried with it the ability to get even technology novices excited and inspired about what's to come. 

With so much new technology already in place, that's the biggest obstacle standing in the way."

One who has had great success with picking a trend and capitalising on it is Zynga's Mark Pincus.  He has made a large fortune from online gaming and allying it to the Net's social revolution. 

Farmville, the addictive game on Facebook is one of his better known successes and he was an early investor in both Facebook and Napster, the P2P music sharing site.

Talking to The Telegraph Pincus said:

"Since the likes of Napster, MySpace and Facebook were created, the web is a social place, with lots and lots of smaller cocktail parties happening everywhere. 

Beforehand, the web was a huge place that wasn't connected in any way – and then Napster launched [and] the web suddenly lit up. 

The internet became this place where people could come together around their interests. And now I am hosting one of the biggest cocktail parties online."

Related articles

• David Pogue Keynote - PubCon 2010 (seo.com)
• Danny Groner: David Pogue Makes Technology Seem Simpler (huffingtonpost.com)
• Zynga: Farmville creator says web is one big cocktail party (telegraph.co.uk)
• Zynga: FarmVille is just the beginning (telegraph.co.uk)