Not So Relevant

IRC with OpenID?

Last weekend JanRain (OpenID libraries, Jyte, myOpenID) has released a new communication tool called Pibb. It was released right before BarCamp Portland and was used for communication there.

As could be expected from the JanRain folks you need an OpenID to log in to Pibb. I think it’s a very clever strategy offering rather simple applications like Jyte and Pibb in conjunction with OpenID. On the one hand that might put off some people who don’t think they should have an OpenID to use an application or service, on the other hand it certainly helps spreading OpenID.

So what is Pibb? Well, like I have mentioned above it’s a communication tool which allows users to either connect with a single person or with an entire group, a channel. At first glance it looks a lot like IRC with some graphics to make it more appealing; channels contribute to that assumption. Though people can start different threads in a channel which help keeping track of discussions.
Update: Oops, Brian Ellin of JanRain is using almost the same words. I swear I have just read this.

This is an example of a channel:

If you connect to the same channels time and again you can mark them for display on a dashboard, so that you can quickly connect to them; the same applies for contacts.

This is the sidebar of a channel. You can quickly see who’s online, and even who’s idle (notice the small clock on the user image?). Of course, you can also see which topics (threads) are discussed in the channel.

Pibb also has search functionality. You can search for content throughout Pibb, a channel or even just a thread which is certainly a big bonus.

Every now and then I experience some strange behaviour by Pibb. Clicking on a channel on the dashboard or on Settings nothing happens and the application seems to freeze. Also searching for content and channels right from the dashboard takes a rather long time sometimes but I guess both problems will be fixed quickly.

Pibb is a promising application which could serve as an instant messenger, an IRC alternative, and a message board. Since channels can be private and all messages are sent over SSL it could be an alternative to the mentioned communication services and make it predestined even for communication within company teams.

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