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August 05, 2003
TypePad Launched Today . . . uh. . . Yesterday
TypePad, the new hosted weblog service from Six Apart, makers of Movable Type, was launched at 11:59 PM on Monday, August 4.
To quote Matt Haughey for a second time this week:
You know what I call 11:59 PM on August 4th? Tuesday.
Unlike Blogger, the service which TypePad's business model most closely resembles, TypePad isn't free, although with the basic plan starting at $4.95 per month it is relatively cheap. I say relatively, because I only pay $5 per month to ICDsoft, my web hosting provider. ICDsoft doesn't provide me with nifty weblog authoring software, so I had to install Movable Type myself, but for that five bucks I get a heck of a lot more space (333 MB) than TypePad is offering, plus a lot more flexibility.
But I'm a power user. Even more so than Blogger, TypePad is a service aimed at the Aunt Mabels of the world -- the non-technical consumer who doesn't place any importance on a webhost having MySQL and PHP support or whatever. They want a tool that has a good interface and accomplishes the desired task. And they're probably willing to pay the price of a vente mocha frappucino for it each month.
I don't think the competition for TypePad will come from Blogger or Userland. From what I've seen of TypePad, the interface outstrips both of those products. TypePad will eventually have to compete with AOL Journals and whatever weblogging tool MSN eventually releases (oh, c'mon, you know they will). Since the Aunt Mabels are already paying for AOL or MSN, Six Apart will either need to grab those users and make them good customers right now or have a convincing story to differentiate TypePad from the weblog tools that will be rolled into the consumer online services. Just having a better interface may not be enough to dislodge Aunt Mabel.
Posted August 5, 2003 08:50 AM
Comments
Hmm... I'm with you on this. I don't see it as a good deal.
I have been wanting to move from BloggerPro for a few months and had been waiting to see what typepad was all about before considering where to move to.
Blogger Dano seems more robust but that's how it really should have been with Pro.
However there are some recent newcomers and a couple of smaller packages that to me seem more appealing. -I hate getting screwed by companies that can afford to give me more bang for my buck. I'd rather support a bunch of well-meaning amateurs.
Comments by irry . Posted August 5, 2003 06:33 PM
I jumped from Blogger Pro the second I was able to. Between Blogger's problems and my comment section providers problems - TypePad could be down 3 days a week and I'd still be ahead!
Comments by bogie . Posted August 7, 2003 08:44 AM