Month: December 2013

What to Read Next : InstaRank – v1.0

What to Read Next : InstaRank – v1.0

Instapaper’s new(ish) InstaRank feature on iOS is really helpful for picking out what to read next. It lets me find what’s popular now from among the articles in my reading list and lets me filter my list based on the amount of time I have to read.

One of our ambitions since taking on Instapaper has been to build useful ways to make the reading experience more productive. To us, that means making it easy to find the best article to read (or video to view) for the moment you’re in. To that end, we’ve added a bunch of sorting and filtering capabilities into the new iOS 7 app for iPhones. (They’ll show up in the very near future on our iPad and Android apps, and in the web interface.)

by Jonathan Frei

Don’t forget the open web

Jeffrey Zeldman:

Yes, recycling other people’s recycling of other people’s recycling of cat gifs is fun and easy on Tumblr. Yes, rubbing out a good bon mot on Twitter can satisfy one’s ego and rekindle a wistful remembrance of meaning. Yes, these things are still fine to do. But they are not all we can do on this web. This is our web. Let us not surrender it so easily to new corporate masters.

by Jonathan Frei

Finding the right race

Being first is not the only way to win. The cost of crossing the finish line first sometimes outweighs the prize you get for winning. The second mouse to reach the trap gets the cheese and gets to search for more tomorrow. All but the slowest runner in the group escapes the bear.

Apple didn’t make the first computer, MP3 player, or Smartphone. Amazon didn’t invent the bookstore. They didn’t win by trying to finish first.

Finishing second (or later) means you can see the finish line and what prizes await those who finish. Coming in second lets you decide in advance if the rewards are worth the effort or if you should start running a different race.

by Jonathan Frei