Yourminis, yet another flash-based web desktop

let's talk about it!

Ryan - what may make yourminis the winner in this crowded space is that they're planning a desktop version as well. For a Mac user with Dashboard, maybe this isn't such a big deal but for a PC user who also uses both IE7 and Firefox, the ability to call up this collection of useful widgtes in either browser or on the desktop is pretty damn cool.

I’ve just done an interview with Alex Bard, CEO of Goowy, for a podcast. We talk about their decision to use flash over Ajax, business models and their API that they’re launching soon.

http://gizbuzz.co.uk/2006/episode-2-gizbuzz-podcast-alex-bard-ceo-of-goowy/

Yourminis.com is less of a web-desktop and more of a personalized start page, ala netvibes or pageflakes. (If you want a web-desktop check out our other product at www.goowy.com)

What sets our site apart from the others is that we offer a richer multimedia experience which allows users to do things with pictures, video and music that you can't do on regular start pages. Users can also highly customize their pages to a degree not present anywhere else.

You can access yourminis from anywhere. You can go to yourminis.com as a normal start page or you can access it through our browser plug-in which not only allows users to bring up their minis over any website, but it also aids in content detection making it much easier for users to add RSS feeds, pictures, videos, mp3s, events and contacts to their pages. We will also soon be offering a desktop client.

Lastly we offer users the ability to publish their pages and share them either as a page such as http://www.yourminis.com/mavs and http://www.yourminis.com/web2news or as a javascript badge which gives the HUD experience on your own page (check out http://blog.yourminis.com/ and click on the "view yourminis" button on the right)

Yourminis has such flexibility that it is what you make it. It can either provide you with an incredibly rich multimedia experience or it can be used as a productivity tool. That coupled with the sharing aspect and the ability to access yourminis from anywhere and not have to be confined to just one site or even a browser is what makes yourminis more than just a "regular" start page.

I guess at some time or another, someone's going to create a desktop widget, thus allowing me to have a desktop within a desktop within a desktop?

Honestly, so much of the technology appearing right now has such narrow appeal that I'm fascinated to know who the developers think is out here. A few nerds answering comments on a nerd web site doesn't cover it.

So many silly things, so little purpose. It's dot-com-boom all over again...

if anyone remembers konfabulator (now yahoo widgets), they have a PC version of this already out. i use the same widgets on PC and mac.

I think what makes this service different from other related ones is the obvious plans to sync all of your "desktops" together. I think one of the major reasons why more people don't use these types of services is because of the lack of portability of everyone's "widgets." Once there is a platform established for all widgets, I think you will see more services like this pop up that try to tie everything together in one package. I wonder if yourminis plans to roll out a cellphone app as well that ties to the service.

I'm watching this one closely. I think they have something here that Goowy didn't have, and that is broader selection to general users.

This seems rather useless to me. Why do I need a web-based desktop? I have a laptop computer. If I want to take my desktop with me I'll just unplug and walk away with it.

It sounds to me like Yourminis is trying to make an end-run into the social networking business. Manage music, pictures and more in widgets. Publish it to the Internet. Link one’s desktop to other desktops online. Isn't this just Myspace?

As someone who rides the fence between early adopter and regular Internet user, I can't see a need for this product.