Billy Smith
The start of another walled garden...
It'll be gratis, right until you have started relying upon their service, and that's when they'll start charging the users.
Another.com were using this business model in 1998.
Free ad-supported email/webmail, but after you had been using the service for 30-36 months, they would start charging you.
During one London Meet-up, i was talking with one of the tech's from Another.com, who told me that this was entirely deliberate.
Chris Trottier
@stephan It's part of their full suite of personalized services, including webmail and blogging.
Stephan Waba :hibiscus:
@atomicpoet thanks for sharing all that. but what should be their business model i wonder. why provide "free" fediverse accounts? :chr_mickey_surprise:
Chris Trottier
A very IMPORTANT thing to note about @Vivaldi's instance:
This is the most blatantly commercial instance I've come across. Not a complaint -- it's just reality.
Once again, *everyone* should know that not every instance is run by volunteers. Some of them, like social.vivaldi.net, are run with a clear for-profit motive in mind.
Not all instances need your donations.
Vivaldi Social certainly doesn't.
Chris Trottier
All right, I have a few thoughts on @Vivaldi's new built-in Mastodon feature
1. This is an interesting first integration, but clearly needs a lot of work
2. Signing up is confusing -- dare I say, more confusing than the sign up from joinmastodon.org
3. I don't begrudge Vivaldi for pushing *their* instance, but it tells me a lot about their ambitions
4. For this to be *very* good, there should be a "Share to Vivaldi Social" option that's built into the browser
5. Again... interesting!
Chris Trottier
Here's what composing with @Vivaldi's side panel looks like in browser. It's perfectly functional. Again, at an appropriate width.
Chris Trottier
So in order to get @Vivaldi's side panel to work, you *must* re-start your web browser after signing into their Mastodon instance.
See, after I did that, it displays fine.
Another interesting thought: after signing into Vivaldi Social, the width is now more "sane".
Chris Trottier
Here's the next major problem with @Vivaldi's implementation of Mastodon.
After I create an account and sign-in, I click "Sign in" on their side panel.
What happens? "This page isn't working".
Specifically, HTTP ERROR 422.
See screenshot.
Chris Trottier
After clickin "Sign in", I discover that I'm indeed signed into @Vivaldi's instance. No need to give them a password.
Good!
Now I'm seeing recommendations for people to follow.
Of course, Vivaldi is at the top of the list. Because this whole exercise is to see how this works, I'm going to follow them.
Chris Trottier
Okay, so here's the biggest, clearest problem right now with Vivaldi Social.
After you click "Continue to Vivaldi Social", you are indeed brought to @Vivaldi's instance.
However, you are not signed in.
So, should you sign in or should you create an account?
This is not apparent.
Nevertheless, I'm going to try to sign-in.
Chris Trottier
Side note: Vivaldi Social is definitely being given the rock star treatment.
Chris Trottier
Here's the screen in @Vivaldi were you give them your phone number.
I've gone ahead and done this because, once again, I'm a person of science.
After updating, I'm continuing to Vivaldi Social powerered by Mastodon.
Chris Trottier
First, I want to talk about this blurb on @Vivaldi's sign-up page.
It's clear to me that Vivaldi is using Mastodon as part of a suite of social tools that include:
1. Webmail account
2. Mastodon account
3. Blog hosting account
This is part of how they aim to differentiate themselves from Google Chrome.
Sidenote: They're also asking you to give them your phone number.
Chris Trottier
CONFIRMED!
If you click "Create account" on https://social.vivaldi.net (@Vivaldi's instance), they will redirect you to https://login.vivaldi.net/profile/id/signup.
Because I am a person of science, I will investigate further.
Chris Trottier
All right, this is not apparent: When clicking "Create account", you are not taken to @Vivaldi's Mastodon instance page at *all*.
You are taken to Vivaldi's general sign-up page.
This implies that you must have a Vivaldi account in order to use their instance.
I wonder if this is true.
Chris Trottier
So this is where it get *really* interesting!
When you click "Create account" in @Vivaldi's instance side panel, it opens up a sign-up page.
The URL for this sign-up page can be seen here: https://login.vivaldi.net/profile/id/signup
This page is *very* different from a typical Mastodon sign-up page.
There are seven fields that you must enter, with two checkboxes that you must consider too.
At the bottom there is a blurb about what you should sign up.
Chris Trottier
Once you adjust the width of @Vivaldi's side panel, you're now given an option to "Create account".
If I'm a new Mastodon user, I might actually try to do this.
Chris Trottier
The next thing I notice is branding: @Vivaldi displays this boldly as "Vivaldi Social" followed by "powered by Mastodon" in tiny print.
I'm not against this necessarily, but it's important to keep in mind.
One thing that *is* interesting is how Vivaldi's logo colour now matches their Mastodon instance's colour scheme.
Chris Trottier
So in order to find @Vivaldi's Mastodon panel useful, you *will* need to adjust the width. This is not obvious to everyone -- as the saying goes, "Out of sight, out of mind."
Nevertheless, I assume that the default width is what it is so people see the "essentials".
Chris Trottier
So if @Vivaldi's intent was to get me to download their web browser, mission accomplished.
I'm looking at the Mastodon feature. While interesting, it definitely needs work.
Right now, I'm using a 1920x1200 res monitor, and there still seems to be real estate problems.
Chris Trottier
This is an audacious move by @Vivaldi.
Right now, Mastodon is still a tiny sliver of Internet use.
I guess they're betting on continued momentum.
Chris Trottier
WHOA!
@Vivaldi just put Mastodon directly inside their browser!
Has anyone tried this yet?
https://www.pcworld.com/article/1427452/vivaldi-puts-twitter-alternative-mastodon-inside-its-browser.html
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