As many others, I’ve been playing with Jaiku and Twitter, getting a feel for what they mean to personal connections.
I think Jaiku fits the always-on world much better that Twitter. It’s a rich interface to many aspects of presence, without being overly intrusive or detailed. But, it really only works if you have an unlimited cellular data plan. I haven’t used it with WiFi, but my experience with WiFi so far on mobile devices suggests that Jaiku would not be too interesting if it had to depend on WiFi for a connection.
Twitter, on the other hand, is more amenable to current telco tariffs (certainly in Europe). Also, the cost is much more visible when you use it. And its simplicity means it can be used on all phones.*
So, I predict, Twitter will rule in adoption, until Jaiku can figure out how not to cost a half a meg of data a day, for a few SMSes worth of Twitters.
But, if better data plans ever materialize, then I think Jaiku will fly.
*There is SMS access to Jaiku. I think I need to check it out.
Totally agree Charlie.
From my point of view, Jaiku is thought for the Generation C, or at least, for the generation that will enjoy flat mobile data plan 😉
Jaiku is a more innovative product in the sense that it fully integrates and maximizes mobility, presence and context. As far as i now a lot of Finnish people are involved in Jaiku and Finland is one of the most innovative countries in mobile services.
Twitter on the other hand, will roll-out faster since it is cheaper and easier to use for the average user.
“Jaiku is from Finland and Twitter is from the States”
Charlie,
You definitely need to check out the Jaiku SMS. It works just like SMS on twitter. And since you can embed feeds into Jaiku you can also post to your Jaiku with IM – through Twitter.
I’ve yet to get Jaiku’s SMS to work on my N73. Or the Jaiku Mobile Beta software. I keep getting connection errors and it refuses to send the SMS messages. Elisa is my ISP.