Meetro, an interesting location-based instant messaging client that’s compatible with AOL, ICQ, MSN and Yahoo!, is now alpha testing a Mac version of their software. I profiled Meetro originally in August,
If you are a Mac user and want to try Meetro, email mac@meetro.com and include your city, state (if applicable) and country of residence.
The idea behind Meetro is cool, but this seems like a perfect example of a feature, not a product, and certainly not a company. Hopefully things work out for Meetro, but I can’t see myself permanently switching the IM client I use just so I can see who is online near me.
Jeff – It may seem that way at first glance, but Meetro is so much more than that once you start getting to know your neighbors with it. I signed up on Meetro to meet new friends because I had just moved and was looking for people to visit neighborhood bars and restaurants with.
But as it turns out, everyone I met that lived very near to me had also met someone else that lived very near to THEM. And those people had met THEIR neighbors, and on and on. We have get togethers periodically and every time you turn around, the person you just met already knows the person you showed up with, and everyone ends up having a great time. I’ve had fun with every person I’ve met via Meetro (and there are a lot of them!)
I haven’t used my other IM clients in months. I’m thrilled it’s coming to Mac – now I can have it on my laptop, which means when I travel, I can find things to do with Meetro users in OTHER cities.
See you there!
I wish Meetro the best of luck, though I often think it’s more interesting to talk to people on IM who are NOT local. I think they have an interesting idea, but focusing solely on that might hurt their growth.
My experience with Meetro has been very satisfactory so far. I personally prefer a simpler interface for an IM client and the best of all is that I have the option to use them all from Meetro.
We are adapting a different lifestyle, and these days that everything is going wireless I believe that the location identification is one of the smartest and most intuitive tools for using IM clients for the reason they were invented in the first place. To bring people together, not to hide behind screens and profiles.
Meetro gets a star from me…
Ever get the chance to talk to the developer pool at yahoo? nope. MSN? not a chance…meetro is new, its involved and evolving. Bout the “meeting people far away” …i love when i can build a relationship with someone not from HERE and get to entertain them when they actually arrive. Ive met 4 people from other countries that came to Chicago to visit and had a great time. I cant do that “honestly” with just yahoo alone.
Just tried Meetro – this company really sucks. I just found out that they have emailed everyone in my hotmail account saying that I had invited them to join Meetro – i would never ever do this.
I imagine this little evil viral effort is explained in the small print of their terms and conditions. This is shows really poor taste and is a malicious attempt to get viral. All join my viral campaign “EVIL MEETRO SUCKS CAMPAIGN!!!!