Ohpan: The New Stuff is Always To The Right
Ohpan is a news ticker. OK, that's one way of describing it, but it's about as far removed from what Ohpan does - and has the potential to do - as calling a Tivo a VCR. Unveiled today in invite-only beta (don't worry, we've got access codes for you), Ohpan takes the concept of a scrolling feed and tricks it out until it's hardly recognizable. Atype Studios, the creator, calls it a dynamic side-scrolling infostream.
Ohpan is one part SnackR, a bit of Tumblr, some Facebook and a recommendation system all rolled together. And that doesn't even begin to describe how it works. But we will gamely make an attempt to sum up the features, nonetheless.
First, it scrolls. To the left. Of that much we are sure. All sorts of news articles, pictures, stories, reviews, and other informational items appear in two rows. As you move your mouse over each item, you can choose to read more, close, strike, or star it. Or let it float on by. Anyway, if you do click on the item, a new window will open giving you a larger preview. Closing an item does just that. Clicking on the star icon will save the item for your own feed and finally, striking an item will make it (and stuff like it) go away.
Here's where the recommendation system comes in. Starring stuff promotes similar content, so you end up seeing more of it in your stream. Striking things makes them go away, and also makes them less likely to appear again. After a while, you are seeing more and more of the stuff you like. It's that simple.
Atype Studios also added a bit of social goodness to the app, not only building a feed of stuff you have starred, but also allowing you to share particular items with other Ohpan users and eventually, via email and other social networks. And they aren't stopping there - itechmo reports that plans are afoot to include your own content (if it isn't being picked up already), add your Google Reader shared items and even rate inline ads!
Oh yeah - we also promised you some access codes! Here's what to do. Go to the Ohpan site, click on the button called I have a code! and put in this code: RWWROCKS.
The man behind Atype, Simon Plashkes (@plashkes), gave us a roll of 1000 tickets, so first come, first serve!
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Simon from AType here - we're blushing, really. Thank you for an amazing and clear summary of what we're up to. Want to add: 1) our scoring system is not mature, we're really learning from users right now - but one thing ARE doing is gently pushing people to discover new content, and 2) our iPhone app is going to be sent to apple in a few weeks. We're in this for the long haul. Thanks again -Simon
we're really learning from users right now - but one thing ARE doing is gently pushing people to discover new content, and 2) our iPhone app is going to be sent to apple in a few weeks. We're in this for the long haul. Thanks again -Simon!!!
I Claimed one code! Thanks AType and RWW.
I am trying to understand ohpan. It is very confusing to see all the news stuff scrolling across the screen.
I get the idea that you want to get me the latest news like a live feed. But how can I categorize them? Can I see news on politics in a different stream v/s news on social media news?
The article above says, news on the right is more recent? But I see some items marked as 19 hrs ago right of those as 10 hrs ago? Am I missing anything?
May be I just need to spend more time with ohpan to learn about it.
Thanks,
Shreya
Interesting concept. Just logged in with the promocode and, as it's such a new idea, I think the site could definitely benefit from a quick explanation. Additionally it seems that windows do not always pop up as supposed to, (perhaps it would be prescient to indicate in advance that this is the expected behaviour) thus meaning one misses any story clicked on that does not actually load.
Where do stories go once they've been dismissed? Kept in a 'read items' style history or banished? Enquiring minds would like to know!
Overally, a clever idea. The most crucial part will, no doubt stem from the 'freshness' of the information (ie, why not just google reader etc?) which will be reliant on the level of development of their recommendation engine.
I can see the benefit in this type of app.
However, it demonstrates the same flaw that MP3 has; the more you use it, the narrower the scope of your view. Soon, you are Richard Nixon; you only see and hear the stuff you like and are not exposed to new ideas and the downside of things.
For MP3, it is the lack of discovering new tunes from an artist that you like. You go, download the single song you like, and that is it. With a CD or LP (YEAH! Return of Wax!), you get the full scope of the artist's work for that album, and have the opportunity to be exposed to new art (ideas, memories, histories, etc).
Maybe there should be half-stars; "I am sorta interested in this class of info, so don't exclude me from it".
IMO, all these "only get/see what you like" are turning society into zombies, with no depth of knowledge. That is why newspapers have a value; something just MAY catch your eye.
Lew, Simon (the creator) added some information to the article that tells me they are addressing your concern. He says Ohpan is "..gently pushing people to discover new content," which makes me think trying to force the service to only show you specific things will end up being difficult.
Hope this helps.
Starring stuff promotes similar content? i dont agree this.:(
Just spent 15 mins trying it out (Thanks for the beta code!)
I think I could stare at that and browse all day. Seriously. I just wish you could pause the darn thing...
Ohpan is a really intriguing approach with a lot of potential. I like the at-a-glance graphic feel, though it would be nice to be able to pause the ticker while reading at an article.
However, this concerns me:
"Starring stuff promotes similar content, so you end up seeing more of it in your stream. Striking things makes them go away, and also makes them less likely to appear again. After a while, you are seeing more and more of the stuff you like. It's that simple."
As some other have already noted, that narrows rather than expands horizons.
I edit a rather unusual news aggregator - http://www.TrackerNews.net - that was developed for small, independent (and brave!) nfp spin-off off Google.org called InSTEDD, so am more than passingly interested in seeing different approaches to aggregation. We all know the problem: floods of information. But how do you manage it?
My apologies in advance for going on a tangent about Tracker, but for anyone who might be interested...
A little background: TrackerNews' beat, very broadly defined, covers health issues, humanitarian work and technology. People in these fields often complain about "silos of expertise" that keep them isolated. We wanted to experiment with an approach that might make it easier for readers to see connections across disciplines and perhaps even spot potential collaborations.
The site has a few twists: Stories are not organized by category, nor is there a standard navigation bar. Rather, headlines (breaking news, research papers, blog posts, websites, book reviews, e-books - print, audio, video) are grouped together for contextual relevance. I can't tell you how liberating it is not to be limited by datelines...
It is still very much a work in progress. It don't think we've totally nailed it yet, but there is something interesting going on. I look at ideas such as Ohpan's and wonder if it would be a better approach and whether it could be adapted.
We also have half-built custom Tracker tool - http://tinyurl.com/c87uzd - which a kind of jazzed up DIY site map for the collective knowledge of a group, event, subject, etc. Tracker's back end user interface is drag'n'drop and wysiwyg, so you don't have to be a tech to create a custom tracker.
My apologies again for taking up so much room with this comment. But this is an interesting blog, a topic I been living and breathing and a readership whose feedback I would value.
Thank you.
Interesting idea, but I don't like that I have to click over to Digg (or wherever) and then to the story or article itself. MicroPlaza suits my needs better because it takes me right to the article.
Test
The site has a few twists: Stories are not organized by category, nor is there a standard navigation bar. Rather, headlines (breaking news, research papers, blog posts, websites, book reviews, e-books - print, audio, video) are grouped together for contextual relevance. I can't tell you how liberating it is not to be limited by datelines...
check out the updates from Ohpan. They got an iPhone App... "Ohpan Your iPhone « @itechmo" ( http://tinyurl.com/qqbggd )
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