MySpace releases a new version, and a lesson in the worst things you can do to your users

Below is a screen shot of the new myspace:

First the most blatant and unacceptable thing to do to your users is throw out all of their existing content. Not only did it seem to not carry over one single shred of my profile other than name and location, it does not even seem to have carried over my friends list. That is just unbelievably silly.

Next up is the primary input box is nearly entirely off the page. I run 1920×1200 resolution and do not browse with my window full screen. It seems that they just assume you have your viewport to be the same size as your resolution.

For some reason this layout uses horizontal scrolling, i think this is more related to buggy design than actual intent. Next to the text input and where it says my “stream is empty” is a gigantic void that goes over some 1000+ pixels off screen. (Did it erroneously calculate resolution based on the fact I’m using dual monitors?)

When you get the mouse anywhere near the bottom of the page, that hideous gigantic thing pops up, I don’t even know what it is. I assume it’s a track list for listening to music on myspace. This thing pops up incredibly easily and then stays there. When it’s there you can no longer across the horizontal scroll bar so depending where you are you might actually be blocked from interacting with the site altogether until you trigger a hover out to make it go away. (I really hope it doesn’t function like this on a tablet/phone)

I could point out alot of things they got right with the new myspace, but these flaws are just so gigantic and so gaping there is no room for discussion of improvement when you drop a nuclear bomb on your users and delete all of their created content. [Naysayers hush, yes I know the content likely exists still on old myspace somewhere, somehow, but i’m speaking in terms of how a user would feel about their usage and their experience].

Comcast Metro Ethernet and How much does it cost?

Comcast has been advertising a new line of service for business users called Comcast Metro Ethernet. This is really just standard fiber to the premises. They do a good job of not making any information available online to figure out pricing.

Recently I was involved with discussions about this service. These figures are loose numbers for the Central PA region. I cannot be certain whether the prices are wildly different across the country. These prices also assume Comcast does not need to incur very significant costs for running fiber to your premises. These costs also expect a multiple year commitment.

Comcast Metro Ethernet is unmetered fiber to the building. You purchase it per megabit and as a symmetric connection. There is no option for asymmetric speed, and there is no option for metered traffic. Basically they expect you to purchase a line that sits idle for a significant portion the month as opposed to selling you service based on actual usage. This is very disappointing.

On to the numbers!

10 mbps – $800/month

20mbps – $1100/month

50mbps – $1500/month

70mbps – $1800/month

100mbps – $2300/month

Not very impressive.

Edit: Apparently my not very impressive remarks are for US high speed internet industry as a whole. Comcast’s pricing was competitive compared against Level 3 and lower cost than most other providers in our region. It’s still disappointing to see that apparently no provider offers a plan along the lines of 500mbps or 1000mbps metered pay as you go. Or even sold with XXXX GB allocated upfront and then per use fees afterwards.