I don't see how Craigslist refusing to better themselves justifies the millions of hours wasted by their customers using their shitty UI. What a strange sense of justice.
If you value users, don't hurt yourself to show it. Rather, don't shut off sites that save them hours of their limited and precious lifetime.
It's pretty easy to assert that Craigslist is somehow disrespecting their users - perhaps by having poor UI - but it's harder to prove that assertion by setting up a competing service with your idea of a "better UI" for the users.
It seems abundantly clear to me that the assertion that "A competitor to Craigslist who got $x right would easily get all Craigslist's users", for any of the usually mentioned values of $x [web design, UI, UX, customer service, search, API, other services using their API, …] - is nothing more than a head-in-the-sand misapprehension on the part of startup/web design/UI people. Craigslist _users_ have not "jumped ship" en-mass to any technically or graphically "better" alternative - and it's hardly from lack of trying by people who're _sure_ they will.
I think sometimes we need to get out of the HN/startup/bay-area echo chamber - I'm pretty sure Newmarket and his crew have a much different view of what their user base wants than any assumptions made by the HN zeitgeist…
Do you understand the concept of "monopoly power"? It sounds like you do not.
I, personally, save several hours every time I look for an apartment by using padmapper over Craigslist. Aggregated, that's human lifetimes of time saved every year by padmapper.
UI isn't about round corners and fancy color schemes. It's about using computers to automate repetitive behaviors. Newmark's defenders tell me what I really want is to waste my limited lifetime clicking manually through entries on his shitty site. But no, I really don't.
Question: what "monopoly power" do you believe Craigslist has? What product or service can you _only_ buy from Craigslist? Are they the only way to find an apartment to rent? Are they the only way to advertise an apartment to rent? (Note, your answers there may be very_ different from my perceptions of the answers to those questions - for me locally here in Sydney Australia, Craigslist _exists_, but isn't even close to a bit-player in real-estate/aparement-rental, never mind a major player - and it'd be _laughable_ to accuse them of "monopoly")
"Fuck Craigslist. Seriously."
Because they "cost" you "several hours" everytime you choose to use them to look for an apartment? Which is what - twice a year maybe? And this cost to you is somehow greater then the newspaper classifieds market they disrupted? Without some more backstory - I can't help but think you're _seriously_ over-reacting…
> I, personally, save several hours every time I look for an apartment by using padmapper over Craigslist.
> Fuck Craigslist. Seriously.
It's a bit disingenuous to say fuck Craigslist when the data you are using above...comes from Craigslist. Shouldn't you have switched to Zillow or another service by now if you hate Craigslist so much?
"UI isn't about round corners and fancy color schemes. It's about using computers to automate repetitive behaviors."
I think my point still stands - if there's a better way to do it that's so obvious, why hasn't somebody _done_ it and grabbed all the users? Google did it to Alta Vista. Facebook did it to MySpace (who did it to Friendster who did it to Tribe…)
It seems to me as though Newmark has balanced the often conflicting requirements of "people wanting to advertise stuff" and "people wanting search through advertisements" better than anyone else. Craigslist wouldn't have any data worth publishing in an API if they didn't address the needs of the advertisers. Padmapper doesn't have any data at all - why should Craigslist give them their apartment rental data just so Padmapper can compete with Craigslist without having the constraint of having to satisfy the advertiser well enough for them to provide the data in the first place?
Simple. I don't think Craig is trying to flip his company for an acqu-hire. I don't think Craig will have any investors pulling him by the short hairs towards an IPO.
My prejudice is that PadMapper probably wants to flip the company, and even if they don't, they probably have investors who want them to.
You know PadMapper is a one-man operation? I don't think Eric (the guy behind it) even has investors. It seems like something he just hacked up in his spare time.
I know I can't use the Craigslist website, and can only use mobile apps which provide a much better interface.
I hope that Craigslist changes their mind and decides to allow websites to license their API. If they don't, however, then Padmapper should just adapt and become mobile-exclusive, or try to generate their own apartment listings instead of depending on Craigslist.
If you value users, don't hurt yourself to show it. Rather, don't shut off sites that save them hours of their limited and precious lifetime.