6 ms·

Tumblr v5 Released

34 points by beaudeal 18y ago

trickjarrett 18y ago
Tumblr is a great example of a startup which follows the 'tribes' principle by Seth Godin. They came up with an idea, began with the product, and let the tribe dictate where it goes next. It's expanded to much more than a overly simple blogging interface, now it's a full fledged blog app. V5 looks amazing and the video demo does it great justice.
- delano 18y ago
  Leading-edge "tribes" is also the best of cultural New York.
onk 18y ago
I expected this: http://tumbler.sourceforge.net/ http://tumbler.sourceforge.net/
latortuga 18y ago
Can someone summarize the video for those of us without speakers and/or at work?
- unalone 18y ago
  Wider interface, more methods of exploring things - map, trendfollowing - more emphasis on your multiple blogs, directory of things you liked, sitewide search, "theme garden" for everybody to upload themes.
- mhp 18y ago
  Tumblr is sick, unreal and sexy as hell.
  - kennyroo 18y ago
    Thx. That made me laugh. :) He clearly needs to tone down the bravado a bit in the voiceover, but I admit that it does look slick.
unalone 18y ago
I already ranted about this on my tumblelog: I'm not at all a fan of this release. Ugly, cluttered design, new features that aren't entirely necessary, and a lot of wasted space. I joined Tumblr for its simplicity, for how every feature added something. Most of this stuff is redundant crap. EDIT: the rant is at http://unalone.tumblr.com/post/70951166/is-it-just-me-or-is-tumblr-constantly-getting http://unalone.tumblr.com/post/70951166/is-it-just-me-or-is-...
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
- fallentimes 18y ago
  So like Posterous, but the opposite?
  - unalone 18y ago
    What do you mean? I still prefer Tumblr to Posterous. Themes are big. The user interface is big. Posterous has neither, and it suffers for it. It's more that Tumblr's not perfect anymore. With v4, I couldn't think of anything I wanted added. It could have stayed like that for a decade and I'd still use it. It was fast, concise, beautiful, uncluttered. v5 is a step back. It adds clutter where there was none before. I'm hoping it's temporary, because Tumblr's staff is incredible and they listen to users. (I hope more than just me complains about this.) But for now, it's pretty irritating, which is to say less than perfect. It's still the best on the market.
    - fallentimes 18y ago
      Thanks for the clarification. I guess I was wondering if the adding of new features & function took away from the simplicity. I think thats the challenge for both Posterous and Tumblr: satisfying existing users while still making the end product dead simple for new users (e.g. my parents).
      - unalone 18y ago
jskopek 18y ago
The new features look great, but I'm surprised no one has discussed that screencast. That was the slickest and sexiest product demonstration I've ever seen; I watched the entire thing, and I dont even own a tumblog
- bonaldi 18y ago
  I can't see it because I don't have flash on this machine, but am opposed in general to screencasts, videos and co. Unless you actually have a spectacle to show, just tell me wtf is new, please. I can read a paragraph of text before the loading icon on yr goddamn video has even begun to spin.
  - unalone 18y ago
    Well, Tumblr v5 launched, so you could just go on the site and see what's new. I did that before watching the vidcast. But a launch should be about spectacle. It's completely fine to have fun if you're not getting in people's ways.
    - bonaldi 18y ago
      A launch shouldn't be about alienation. Is there any reason the video couldn't have been accompanied by text?
      - unalone 18y ago
        Text would have been redundant. The entire thing is launched. The interface is self-explanatory. (If you've never used Tumblr, it really is beautifully simple, despite this new clutter.) The video is there to get you excited, not to tour the site. Lines like "The first thing you'll notice about the new Tumblr is that it is sexy as hell" don't guide, they boast. Tumblr's staff blog is often very much about the people behind Tumblr rather than about the site itself, and this video as no different.
        bonaldi 18y ago
lfittl 18y ago
Sexy video, and the fact that they mostly iterated on their previous features is probably a good choice. This is going to be an interesting year for tumble & microblogs, can't wait to see what's next :)
paul7986 18y ago
Do any start-ups here power their (startup) blog using Tumblr? If so why did you choose Tumblr over creating your own; easier to create/maintain, better SEO, additional way to promote your work.... ?

34 points by beaudeal 18y ago

Tumblr is a great example of a startup which follows the 'tribes' principle by Seth Godin. They came up with an idea, began with the product, and let the tribe dictate where it goes next. It's expanded to much more than a overly simple blogging interface, now it's a full fledged blog app. V5 looks amazing and the video demo does it great justice.

delano 18y ago
Leading-edge "tribes" is also the best of cultural New York.

onk 18y ago

I expected this: http://tumbler.sourceforge.net/ http://tumbler.sourceforge.net/

latortuga 18y ago

Can someone summarize the video for those of us without speakers and/or at work?

unalone 18y ago
Wider interface, more methods of exploring things - map, trendfollowing - more emphasis on your multiple blogs, directory of things you liked, sitewide search, "theme garden" for everybody to upload themes.
mhp 18y ago
Tumblr is sick, unreal and sexy as hell.
- kennyroo 18y ago
  Thx. That made me laugh. :) He clearly needs to tone down the bravado a bit in the voiceover, but I admit that it does look slick.

unalone 18y ago

I already ranted about this on my tumblelog: I'm not at all a fan of this release. Ugly, cluttered design, new features that aren't entirely necessary, and a lot of wasted space. I joined Tumblr for its simplicity, for how every feature added something. Most of this stuff is redundant crap. EDIT: the rant is at http://unalone.tumblr.com/post/70951166/is-it-just-me-or-is-tumblr-constantly-getting http://unalone.tumblr.com/post/70951166/is-it-just-me-or-is-...

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
fallentimes 18y ago
So like Posterous, but the opposite?
- unalone 18y ago
  What do you mean? I still prefer Tumblr to Posterous. Themes are big. The user interface is big. Posterous has neither, and it suffers for it. It's more that Tumblr's not perfect anymore. With v4, I couldn't think of anything I wanted added. It could have stayed like that for a decade and I'd still use it. It was fast, concise, beautiful, uncluttered. v5 is a step back. It adds clutter where there was none before. I'm hoping it's temporary, because Tumblr's staff is incredible and they listen to users. (I hope more than just me complains about this.) But for now, it's pretty irritating, which is to say less than perfect. It's still the best on the market.
  - fallentimes 18y ago
    Thanks for the clarification. I guess I was wondering if the adding of new features & function took away from the simplicity. I think thats the challenge for both Posterous and Tumblr: satisfying existing users while still making the end product dead simple for new users (e.g. my parents).
    - unalone 18y ago

jskopek 18y ago

The new features look great, but I'm surprised no one has discussed that screencast. That was the slickest and sexiest product demonstration I've ever seen; I watched the entire thing, and I dont even own a tumblog

bonaldi 18y ago
I can't see it because I don't have flash on this machine, but am opposed in general to screencasts, videos and co. Unless you actually have a spectacle to show, just tell me wtf is new, please. I can read a paragraph of text before the loading icon on yr goddamn video has even begun to spin.
- unalone 18y ago
  Well, Tumblr v5 launched, so you could just go on the site and see what's new. I did that before watching the vidcast. But a launch should be about spectacle. It's completely fine to have fun if you're not getting in people's ways.
  - bonaldi 18y ago
    A launch shouldn't be about alienation. Is there any reason the video couldn't have been accompanied by text?
    - unalone 18y ago
      Text would have been redundant. The entire thing is launched. The interface is self-explanatory. (If you've never used Tumblr, it really is beautifully simple, despite this new clutter.) The video is there to get you excited, not to tour the site. Lines like "The first thing you'll notice about the new Tumblr is that it is sexy as hell" don't guide, they boast. Tumblr's staff blog is often very much about the people behind Tumblr rather than about the site itself, and this video as no different.
      - bonaldi 18y ago

lfittl 18y ago

Sexy video, and the fact that they mostly iterated on their previous features is probably a good choice. This is going to be an interesting year for tumble & microblogs, can't wait to see what's next :)

paul7986 18y ago

Do any start-ups here power their (startup) blog using Tumblr? If so why did you choose Tumblr over creating your own; easier to create/maintain, better SEO, additional way to promote your work.... ?