The Path of Least Resistance

The big social media news today revolves around the launch of Path, a startup formed and funded by a bunch of big name players in the online development community. But what's most interesting about this new addition to the social sphere is how un-social it really is.

On its surface, Path is a photo-sharing service. The catch, however, is that you are limited to sharing with 50 friends...maximum.

Obviously, this is a very different approach than Twitter, Facebook or Flickr, where there's that race to build up followers and friends. This anti-social network isn't necessarily a deterrent, because I'm sure there is a market for a more personal photo sharing service like this.

And while limiting network size is refreshing, there are a couple of potential obstacles in the path that Path has taken.

1. Photo-sharing standards thrown out the window.

• No ability to comment or like any photos on Path.
• No editing ability or filters, a major draw for current popular photo-sharing apps like Instagram.
• Limited tagging allowed. With Path, there are three categories to tag with each picture (People, Place, and Thing), but you can only create one tag for each category.

2.  Doesn't play nice with others.

• No external social media integration, which means you can't share Path photos to Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• Currently only available on iPhone. Sorry Android fans, you'll have to wait a while before trying it out (on your phone at least).

3. Exclusivity is the name of Path's game.

• You can't view someone's Path profile unless you are friends with them.
• You can invite people who aren't on Path to join, but email notification settings can't be adjusting outside of "muting" a friend whose updates you don't want to see.

Path has dubbed itself as "The Personal Network" for your close friends and family. It's good for those of us who share lots of inside jokes or you-should-have-been-there pictures on larger social networks like Facebook and Twitter and are afraid of confusing the rest of our friends/followers with pictures that aren't meant for them.

So yes, Path's limited network can be difficult to wrap your head around, especially if you're used to Twitter and Facebook. But if you're looking for this kind of anti-social network, Path may be worth a look.

However, given the lack of features and integration, I personally won't be taking this particular Path.

Facebook Friday: Gloves Are Off Against Google

I've touched on the Google-Facebook digital arms race before, mostly in reference to the constant changes both companies were making updates to gain as much ground as possible in the online space.

The key phrase there is "arms race" because it was purely a competition for innovation. We didn't see Facebook and Google taking direct shots at each other publicly, instead focusing their energies on new features and products. But that seemingly-good natured race is over, given the feud that's been boiling over the past week.

For those who missed it (or are just confused by the barrage of headlines), here's basically what happened:

• Nov. 4: Google changed their terms of service to prevent Facebook from importing Google contact data without allowing Google to do the same with Facebook's data.

• Nov. 8: Facebook hacked their way around Google's data protection effort, letting them keep their access to Google's data without giving up their own.

• Nov. 9: Google takes a shot at Facebook, in response to Facebook's what's-mine-is-mine-and-what's-yours-is-also-mine approach to data access, saying how "disappointed" they were that Facebook would do something like that.

• Nov. 9: A Facebook engineer shoots back at Google, stating that "[data] openness doesn’t mean being open when it's convenient for you." He went on to claim that Google has flip-flopped on data openness in the past, while Facebook has remained consistent with their policy.

• Nov 10: Google retaliates by sending users trying to import their Google data to Facebook to a jump page warning that Facebook is guilty of data-trapping: 

You have been directed to this page from a site that doesn't allow you to re-export your data to other services, essentially locking up your contact data about your friends. So once you import your data there, you won't be able to get it out.

So there it is, the feud between the two biggest online titans revolves around data portability. And while most people are pondering who won this fight, it's pretty much a split decision. Google has seemingly won the moral high ground, painting Facebook as data-hogging bullies. However, the fact is that Facebook is still the one with all of the data.

That being said, it's hard to tell whether this is a win-win or a lose-lose situation for these two digital giants. What we do know, however, is that their battle for Internet supremacy got a lot more personal.

Video Post: I_Blog Conference Recap

As we mentioned last week, Axiom's own Dave Sniadak spoke at this past weekend's I_Blog Conference in Perry, Iowa. His "Vasics" of Vlogging seminar helped bloggers understand how to incorporate video into their blogs and make those videos the best they can be. And for those of you who couldn't be there, Dave discusses some of the key points from his seminar and his I_Blog Conference experience in today's Daily Axioms video post.

Foursquare's Nip/Tuck

Not content to stop at just adding new badges, Foursquare continues to roll out updates. This time, they've cleaned up their website with what they themselves called "a little nip and tuck."

The emphasis of the update centers on friend management. The home page now features a Twitter-style stream of your friends' recent checkins and accomplishments. There's also a big "Find Friends" button at the top of the page.

This "Find Friends" feature is perhaps the biggest update to the website, and the most needed. This feature allows you to pull contacts from Gmail, Facebook and Twitter to add as Foursquare friends. Location-based networks like this are much more fun with more friends and a larger network, so streamlining the process of adding friends should bolster users' networks and foster more frequent use.

Managing your network is also a lot easier on the website now, because you can see which friends you have in common with other friends or potential friends. This alleviates the hesitation of adding Foursquare friends you don't know at all.

This is a good move by Foursquare because before this, there hasn't been much use for the website with so much focus on its mobile utility. Also, a more popular website opens up more monetization and advertising options should Foursquare choose to go down that road.

So although these updates are in their early stages, the overall opinion of this little location-based facelift seems to be very positive. Hopefully, this streamlined and improved friend management platform will give the Foursquare website a much-needed identity and purpose.

Will the Dell's Duo be Dynamic or Disastrous?

Last week Dell released a short teaser video for their upcoming Dell Inspiron Duo tablet, which should hit the market by the end of the year.

Obviously, Dell faces the same challenge that every tablet has faced since the iPad was launched. They are trying to not only separate themselves from Apple's hugely popular tablet, but from the sea of other tablet that have dominated technology headlines in recent months.

And what is Dell bringing to the table?

For starters, the Inspiron Duo sports a full QWERTY keyboard in addition to the standard tablet touchscreen. And to get to that keyboard, the Inspiron Duo has a really cool flip lid that turns the touchscreen 180 degress. So what you end up with is a combination tablet/netbook.  It's hard to explain, so I recommend checking out the video for yourself.

The number one question facing technology developers today concerns multifunctional capabilities like this. Do people want a device that does a little bit of everything, or a device that does one thing really well?

The prime example is the tablet vs. e-reader debate. Many feared that the iPad would kill off the Kindle because it could do a lot more in addition to functioning as an e-reader. However, despite a very successful tablet release by Apple, the Kindle is still going strong as well.

Given the success of both product categories, I think that, assuming the Inspiron Duo performs well as both a tablet and netbook, it has a real chance to gain ground in this very competitive tablet market.