As we continue on our quest to find the "one tool" or tools to help my "lifestyle management", I must admit that it's been difficult because there really hasn't been anything that perfectly fits the gap. So let's stop for a moment and think, what about building it myself?
Yep, that's right. Why not simply home grow my own communications management platform and get everything I want and put it in one place. I can do a few advanced things like threaded conversations (one thing highly desired in Threadsy) and maybe even work out a lightweight RSS reader into the mix. I was never a huge fan of the web based IM, so that can go by the wayside. The scary thing is that with HTML5 and mobile platforms hitting into some big strides, it is feasible to make mobile versions of the same client with minimal duplication of code, simply presentation aspects. In addition, there are plenty of APIs out there that allow me to be more of a "data ambassador" than blaze any new frontiers here. I simply make sure everybody talks nice and proper to each other and we're rolling! Plus I can finally try out the MVC/Razor engine I've heard such good things about.
But at the same time, things start to get a little crazy with a lot of AJAX calls, and formatting issues. Often enough the little things wind up being the biggest of all, so it's not really a "toss it together in a weekend" kind of application. Security is a big concern, and there need to be items in place to accommodate that. I think maintaining the activity list will be the trickiest part, making sure not to duplicate the new items, especially if a user is browsing down a list or something. There's a lot more work than what appears on the surface.
But that said, I've got enough interest in it that I just might have to take the plunge and try to make something happen. It would be pretty cool regardless, even if I used it just for myself. 8^D
Tomorrow I'll wrap all this up, but I'm still looking for solutions if you want to toss some my way!