Pownce Opens Up

ScreenshotWe’re so used to the web sites and services we use being in perpetual beta (GMail anyone?) that it comes as somewhat of a surprise when one actually launches. But that’s what happened today with social network Pownce: it’s not a beta service, and now anyone who wants to can just sign up and join without an invitation.

Along with the official launch comes a new version of their Adobe Air based desktop client, as well as a few new features on the web site (notably including import of your social network from Digg, Facebook, Flickr, or Twitter). The core functionality of Pownce remains unchanged, with simple sending for messages, links, files, and events, and the ability to post messages to individuals, the world, or specific groups of your friends.

Ultimately, though, Pownce adoption continues to be held back by the same factor we identified in our original review: most people see Pownce as a direct Twitter competitor (even though the Pownce folks continue to insist otherwise) and right now the critical mass of attention and users remains with Twitter. Until Pownce does something striking to change this perception, or Twitter stumbles worse than they have so far, the sort of incremental improvements Pownce has been making seem unlikely to attract substantial mindshare.

Does the official launch of Pownce make a difference to you? Are you waiting for Jaiku to rise from the ashes of its Google acquisition? Happy with Twitter? Or do you just think all of these services are too silly to use?

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