iPhone users are downloading, and VCs are throwing money at, a new iPhone app called Color.
Don’t get it? You’re not alone.
What the Naysayers are Naysaying
The general reception to Color has been overwhelmingly negative — even worse than the initial reception to the Apple iPad.
Gizmodo quipped that Color’s main purpose is to “amuse yourself by creeping out strangers.”
All Things Digital said Color reminds them of a mock news story created by The Onion, in which investigators establish the cause of a fire by examining the “43,000 pictures taken by students at a party.”
Fortune called Color a “whimsical” “Trojan horse.”
Computerworld called it a “social network for voyeurs.”
Daring Fireball says Color is a “breathlessly overhyped piece of crap.”
The app is currently rated by users with only two stars out of five in the iTunes App Store. Compare that with, say, the 99-cent “Mr. Ninja” game app, which is getting five stars.
The two main strains of criticism center around uselessness and privacy. People aren’t understanding how to use Color, nor why they might want to. Also: The app doesn’t give you any way to know who’s seeing your pictures, and enables creepy weirdos to potentially observe others unwisely sharing private or inappropriate moments. Also: Many users I’ve talked to don’t realize that when you connect to others at a specific event, Color then gives you access not only to their photos and videos taken at the same event, but all taken by them previously elsewhere as well.
All this criticism and mockery is interesting, but largely misguided. I’ll tell you why below, but first lets understand what Color actually is.
