We launched Grazr 2.0 today, and we’re pretty damn excited about its potential. Grazr is a classic case of emergence. We steadily built up its abilities over 18 months to the point where a product has now emerged that far exceeds our expectations. Mike Kowalchik and I started down this path on February 9th, 2006, when we got together at Border Cafe, and talked about a product that Mike could build with his Javascript library. We had both been impressed by James Corbett’s post on feed grazing two weeks before, and decided to use his vision as our target. Our original goal was to build a feed grazer, and since grazer.com was taken, we used the Web 2.0 approach of naming the product Grazr. Also in keeping with Web 2.0 principles, we introduced pieces of our total plan as they were ready. This led some people to dismiss Grazr as just a widget. That perception is about change.
A few weeks ago we assembled all the pieces that would become Grazr 2.0, and I started doing demos in the Boston area and the Valley. What I soon discovered by watching people react to this product, and listening to their ideas on how they could use it, was that this was much more than just a cool way of managing feeds. I am now convinced that Grazr 2.0 introduces a new medium for online collaboration and publishing. What do I mean by a medium? The combination of HTML, servers and browsers defined the Web as a medium. Weblog software, RSS, and feed readers created the medium of blogging. By this definition a medium is a combination of content, technology, and human behaviors. In the same way, grazing is a medium that combines the data standards of OPML and feeds with our widget, drag and drop reading list editor, and new site design. Add in the type of behaviors these components make possible, and you have the medium of grazing.
This is a pretty bold claim. Watch this video of Grazr 2.0 in action, then try the Grazr 2.0 site and decide for yourself.
