Amber MacArthur's Comments:
Farzad Sadjadi
I’m a dot-mac user, so that’s enough syncing for me. Portal does look very sleek, so maybe that will entice some folks to latch on to it. It’s a good idea, just not my favourite (oops, I mean favorite!) of all the finalists.
Richard Whitelock
In order to attract a more mainstream audience, I think Whistler needs a more streamlined definition but it also needs some simple features that appeal to the musical hobbyist (aka musically challenged individuals - we all know who we are).
Kevin Capizzi
I’m sure this would be a hit with folks who spend lots of time in forums. The difficulty is getting it to work in all those forums/sites. If it can work, and work well, I think there is an audience for it.
Michael Yuan
There’s no doubt in my mind that this is a stylish little recipe app. I worry a little about Cookbook because there are so many fantastic recipe websites/communities already a hit with cooks online. Also, with so many people having less and less time to plan meals, I think there needs to be some sticky features to this app that appeal to the time-strapped crowd ( i.e. maybe theme the app to include only recipes for 20-minute meals!).
Cameron Westland
Atmosphere is an excellent idea. Whether we like it or not, so many of us glued to our our computers all day and it’s handy to have weather info at our fingertips (especially if you live somewhere, like Toronto, where the weather changes quickly!). I think this app would be a hit to a huge audience (”Everybody talks about the weather…”). And I love the idea of A Coverflow-like view, very slick.
Dan Lundmark
Blossom seems like a lot of fun. I would keep it really, really simple to make it useful on a long-term basis. I’d definitely consider creating this app to apply only to the Apple Mail app - the more emails I answer, the more my plant grows; I know Merlin Mann will love this: getting my in-box to zero is a the number one sign of my productivity and I’d love to have a full-grown plant as a prize when I get there!
I used the Chia Pet widget for a few days, but for some reason I just wanted to kill it so I could see it roll over and die. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Blossom needs to be more than just another gimmicky app, it needs to be easy-to-use and actually useful for something more than just a few days of plant-growing fun.
Amber MacArthur
City-TV & commandN/TWiTCity-TV Internet Reporter/Host, popular tech blogger and podcaster (commandN & TWiT), and former G4TechTV Host