Comments on: PogoFrog vs. the Dyson Vacuum Cleaner

By: davidrothman.net » Blog Archive » The Beauty of the Dialectial Process

davidrothman.net » Blog Archive » The Beauty of the Dialectial Process — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:18:45 +0000

[...] PogoFrog vs. the Dyson Vacuum Cleaner (A review and critique) [...]

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 01:19:48 +0000

Hey Dean-

Let’s try turning the question around.

What is it about PogoFrog, in your thinking, that makes you want to label it “social”? What is the intention you see and what makes that intention social?

Of course health information vortals have a future. There are questions about who’ll make them, how good they’ll be, and how health information professionals will regard them- but there’s no question they have a future.

By: Dean Giustini

Dean Giustini — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:30:56 +0000

Hi David,

The question I’d like to pose is: what is social? I see it in the broader sense of digital interaction and socializing. In the context of software development, sure, there is no reason to call all interactions either collaborative or social. However, PogoFrog’s intent is social. That’s what I’m getting at – as far as I can recall since my post about PogoFrog was in September 2007.

What’s your thought about the vortalization of medical search? Does it have a future? Dean

By: David Rothman

David Rothman — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:57:12 +0000

Y’know…I need more interesting and inventive ways of expressing agreement with commenters.

I mean, to say: “Jeff, I absolutely agree” is so dang boring that it is barely worth writing- but I still want to let Jeff know that I read his comment and think he’s right on.

So:

Jeff, I absolutely agree.

…so shamefully boring…

By: Jeff M

Jeff M — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 14:29:52 +0000

I don’t really understand why the “monetization” of searching is problematic. Librarians and the public benefit greatly from organizations who generate revenue by creating powerful/user friendly search interfaces. OVID’s MEDLINE is the best example I can think of…repackaging information I could get for “free” from PubMed and makes it infinitely more searchable. Google is another example, because I’d be fairly certain they aren’t in the “social search” business for our greater good.