Timing is everything... part 2.0

A response to insider@boo comments about the return of Boo.com, and why I could be in more than my underwear when it's launched.

Good websites are ten a penny really, but like that song you've been listening to a lot recently (it's this one for me) it's the website you find when you need one (books here, distraction here, movie trailers here, etc. ) that often has the biggest impact on you.

That's the GREAT website for you, as in "Ah great, that's what I wanted."

It may not be the best out there, but it's done what you've wanted it to do, and that's the great part. And it's probably the one you'll go back to to get the job done again!

That's why Google is so great. It can find you that great website when you need it.

Yesterday I posted again about boo.com, just as the enigmatic insider@boo commented on one of my previous posts. Good timing there!

He/she/they/it (could it be Miss Boo back from her cyber grave?) said

"Hi Darragh, interesting that you think the new boo might be all about you, you could just be right...

What if it was about You and the wisdom of people like you?

What if You could be in control and have it your way?

Maybe you usually trust the multitude or prefer to trust friends and family?

What if boo could be all of this at the same time....."

They're interesting questions from an internet perspective... Because this is a very different type of website that I'm visualising compared to other ones out there.

Different because - well, let's say Boo 2.0 is fashion again, and it's about my choice of clothes and what I buy online.

The old boo had a dummy that you could spin around and see what the clothes looked like on it when dressed. Kind of like this recently launched website.

As much as I can model this 'virtual me' to my tastes (on the right is one as close as I can make it), it's still not me.

Similarly, just because "people who bought this book also bought..." doesn't mean I might want to at that particular time...

So I buy from the new boo, not based on JUST my tastes or on what boo recommends, but on the recommendations of either, as the boo insider suggests, the general public or my close friends.

Maybe it's a bit of a Hot-or-not thing going on, but personally I always feel better about my decisions when I've got advice from the people that I trust.

So if I ask a friend if a particular shirt or jeans or whatever suits me based on their tastes and their knowledge of me and what I'd like - whether Jeans x or y would suit me better, or what label is cooler, what site is cheaper etc, and they can tell me, then it's a win-win situation.

It doesn't have to be just my friends advice either. What's that quote? "A stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet." Well based on what you like, if it's relevant to me and at the right time, I might just go for it.

That could be brought into so many ideas - for instance, just because I like one song from Mika doesn't mean I'll like all his music, but I might like songs like it.

Just because I thought Jim Carrey was hilarious in Ace Ventura doesn't mean I'd go to see the Number 23. Because I've been to Barcelona doesn't mean I'll rush back to Madrid. Etc etc etc

But you try telling Google that and where does it get you? Long complicated search terms is where.

And even then I may not like what I find...

So insider@boo I look very much forward to seeing what's on the way. As I've said before... make me love what I find!

Maybe I should get my head shaved...

What Sri Chimnoy, Seth Godin, Boo.com and Colin Hetherington have taught me about working on the interweb.

Apparently over at the new Boo.com "the countdown has started". The story interests me from the whole idea of taking time.

In Gruel on Dame Street the other day, Giovanni picked up a leaflet offering a Free Meditation Course. On a whim we decided to go, just to see what it was all about.

The meditation class was due to be held at the Irish Sri Chimnoy Centre on Wicklow Street. I hadn't heard of it, but we went and I'm glad I did.

There's a certain manic nature to the web, a rush to get things done, get results, get that short term offer. We don't have patience. We want the information there as quick as possible. And for those who work online, there's the same pressure to deliver.


So it was nice to step away from all this for a couple of hours and enjoy some quiet time. There were a lot more people than I expected and yet despite my hesitance to do things like this, I did and I enjoyed it.

During the class, one of the things that really stood out for me (and I'm getting to my point soon, I promise) was a photo of this Sri Chimnoy person himself at the centre of the room.

I couldn't find it online but in it the man is just staring into the distance with a wonderful warm - but knowing - smile on his face. He looks chilled. Like at the end of a web project when everything has worked out.

Sri Chimnoy is a contemporary meditation teacher, poet, composer and athlete. He leads the meditation centre at the United Nations HQ in New York. Very well respected internationally is possibly an understatement.

Taking the time out to try this meditation technique I had a couple of things running through my mind. Foremost was how nice it was to take a couple of minutes out and focus. That's what the meditation was for me - a focussing.

In that line, I've been thinking about the nature of web projects and getting things done online.

I read Seth Godin's blog religiously every morning. I've read all the books available in Ireland, and the constant theme running through Seth's posts is about distinguishing yourself by doing things right.

This morning he posted about how "showing up on time with a smile on your face being the most important part of business". Dead right, but things like that take preparation, planning and all that stuff. It's the whole swan over and under the water thing.

In everything I do online, I make the effort to do it right, because maybe I'll become a Purple Cow. Better I suppose than being this guy.


I was lucky enough to work with Colin Hetherington, now managing director of Agency.com Dublin for a couple of years from 2003.

Colin hated mistakes. Even more of a perfectionist than I was he taught me how to get the job done and get it right. Not take ages doing it but to keep an eye out for what could go wrong and avoid it. Something I still do (thanks Colin!)

And then there's this book. As I've already posted I'm reading about the collapse of Boo.com, and now that it's coming back it's even more relevant.

Reading it all I want to do is advise Ernst Malmsten to slow down, take it easy and look at what they're doing.

Of course it's easier knowing the end to advise at this stage but still, I've seen some great examples of rushing things and not taking enough care.

I think this photo is possibly the best example in the offline world. It's called Not my job, but it could as easily be Not taking the time to do it right.

With the pressures of modern business, targets, budgets and closing dates there's a lot more of a need to get it live and done rather than getting it right.

Personally I'd prefer to use a site that was right than just done. I don't know if Sri Chimnoy uses the internet but I'd imagine he'd advise taking time to reach perfection. He says satisfaction is perfection. I like that idea.

And he's gone for that less hair look. As have Colin and Seth. With the summer coming in I'm thinking of it...

Don't be scared - Boo.com is back, and it might just be good

Why the new Boo a dó may be exactly what web 2.0 should be...

Way back in the hey day of the Celtic Tiger Irish Internet boom, websites and web companies were springing up like shamrocks.

I was lucky enough to start work in 2000 with a "revolutionary website, a one stop shop for all your internet needs, a site and product for everyone that would change the internet in Ireland forever".

There was a huge launch, a huge budget, a huge buzz about it. I remember offices in Citywest with 98 people in different teams, all working on this project. It failed.

Certain people may disagree, but how many people are sending their emails through their TV now?

There's no denying it was a great idea, and a lot of talented people worked on it but ultimately the execution failed. Personally, I had a great passion about it but couldn't do much about the ultimate cause... what was to become the disintegration of the Irish Internet Industry.

Very few .coms/.ie's that began then are still operating. Certainly it's only those with good business models who ran their business well, with the support of good staff have prospered.

However I digress. One of the first international .com bombs was the demise of Boo.com, an online fashion retailer (a one stop shop for everything you need...). I remember hearing about it at the time. The founders had called it 'a totally new concept in online shopping'. Its failure certainly ruffled a few feathers.

Being the geek I am, I was recently given the book Boo Hoo, A Dot Com Story and this documented boo's downfall. Fascinating read. Basically as the Wikipedia article, the recent posts in blogs and the book says, it was a good idea badly executed. Terribly badly. $135million in 18 months badly.

And now, apparently, it's coming back and the domain is registered to an Irish user.

And you know what? It looks like it could have something good...

I've never been one for online fashion buying - even if I could earn PiggyPoints from Curly for buying them from ASOS.com, so it may not affect me too much, but what they've done on their (coming soon) homepage is create a slider which could very well be how this internet 2.0 should be.

Basically it's a slider that changes what I see based on where I feel the slider should be. So if the slider represents me and the content is what changes... well that's interesting. Not necessarily new, but interesting.

"Say what you like, love what you find."

One of the big problems I personally have with most websites is that they don't really care about ME. Gerry McGovern writes about seeing your reader, not a user, and most web 2.0 companies who are successful are trying to personalise their sites to the nth degree. That's why this new boo (boo 2.0?) may be on to something.

Think Bebo, Flickr, Moo Cards, Last.fm, Google's personalised Homepage (and the cooler Netvibes) - all offering a more personal browsing experience. It's what I want on my screen.

Seth Godin has posted about a more personal integrated experience as part of Web4. The new boo could be offering that. If I can truly say (or choose) what I like and so I'll love what I find, I'm sold already.

At the moment I'm far more Overture than Overdrive (with one notable exception) and so the idea that my browsing experience will be based not on what the website thinks I am, but who I really am appeals to me.

Personalisation is huge. Look at the amount of Bebo accounts with photos, movies, backgrounds, out there. Similiarly photos on Flickr, videos on You Tube. People will take the time to get what they want.

Amazon kinda does it well - it suggests books/DVDs that other people have chosen - but I may not be interested. The books that are on special offer though grab my attention.

I'm not sure what this new Boo will be. Fashion? Food? Music?

Their landing page gives no firm clue, but if they offer me the chance to get what I want based on who I'm telling them I am, rather than putting me into one of their categories or suggesting it, well that'll be cool.

And so I add my voice to the others who wait (blog) with bated breath to see what this new boo will be. No matter how huge the budget, how fashionable the clothes, how cool the technology or how nice the site, they have to remember there's a person on the other end of the screen trying to find what they want quickly and easily. Make me love what I find.