Post 11: Rings and Things

This blog post is dedicated to ideas with no follow through. 

Rings and Things was a concept idea I thought of a couple years ago. The basic idea was that people would take pictures of things they liked, owned or just saw in stores, and submit them to a website where they would include where they found them and how much they cost. 

The idea was that if enough people did it, it would allow people to look through a sort of virtual collection of things that people owned and if they saw something they liked, they could click on it and find out how much it cost and where it could be purchased. 

And if they found something they liked, but cost too much, because they would be categorized it would come up with suggestions of other things that might be in a more reasonable price range. 

Or they could say, 'this is too much for me, but I kind of like this person's taste' and they can look through the other things the person has listed to see if there is anything there they like. 

It seemed like a good idea, and in fact, it was a good idea. You know how I know?

There is now an app called 'Wish' that does just that. It is different, people can add things that aren't actually real yet. There are a lot of people who add the same thing, and others who don't add a price or where to buy.

However, it is quite similar. 

Another idea I had was for a website that would combine social networking sites. 

Let's face it, most people in North America have more than one social networking site and about 50% of active users have at least 4. (Including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, etc.)

It can be such a hassle going and signing in to each one individually. And what if you forget the password? Or just don't have time to bother?

My idea was for something that would combine them all together. 

And guess what?

HootSuite does just that. 

Although I would do some things differently. 

For example, it seems to add Twitter and Facebook to the same tab, instead of as two separate. 

I would do it as two separate tabs, because I don't 'tweet' much.

Also, my twitter is connected to my LinkedIn profile. My Facebook is not. And while I rarely curse, and do try to be responsible as far as what I put on Facebook, it doesn't mean all my friends are. 

And it doesn't mean that I always am, and always will be. 

Of course, even if I had acted on either of these ideas, it wouldn't have gotten as far. I have limited computer expertise and no funding. And while I do know computer people, it isn't like I would know where to get started setting these up or marketing them to get users.

Have you ever had an idea that came out later as a popular idea? 

Anyone think up anything like Facebook or Myspace before they came out?