What Apple needs to do with Ping

Ping is Apple's new social networking service and it is an odd one because it is quite limited in some ways and it is not at all like Facebook. It is a bit like Twitter though. It's very early days with the service and no doubt there will be teething troubles and glitches for a while. It also looks very much like version 1.0 and it seriously needs improving if it is to be a success. It can't actually fail because there are too many Apple fans who buy into anything Apple produces, and also because there are so many iTunes users. Apparently up to 1 million people access iTunes on some days, so with numbers like that, Ping is bound to get a lot of people joining. Will they use it though? It's one thing signing up and taking a look around, but I've joined many social networking services, used them a few times and then never returned. Ping's membership will rocket as people try it out, but will they return and how often? I don't think I'll be using Ping much until it improves. Here's what Apple should do.

One thing that is holding Ping back is that you can only access it using iTunes. Every other social network is accessed using a web browser, but Ping is different. The question is whether it is better through iTunes and the answer has to be no. For a start, every Linux user is excluded because you can't get iTunes on Linux. OK, you can run Windows in a virtual machine, but that's not ideal. A lot of people access social networking services at work during coffee and lunch breaks or after hours. Work computers don't have iTunes on (unless they are Macs) and so most people at work are excluded. All smartphones have internet access and can therefore access social networking sites. There are Facebook and Twitter apps for all smartphones, and other services can be accessed through a web browser. Ping, though, is only available on one phone, the iPhone. This excludes everyone that doesn't have an iPhone.

At the very minimum Apple must enable some form or web access so everyone can use Ping. It would be nice to see apps for other phones, like Android, but this is unlikely given that it is a rival mobile operating system. Web browser access would be acceptable though.

At the moment, Ping looks like a subset of Twitter, with its ability to follow people, have people follow you, see short status update messages and so on. You can follow celebs on Twitter just as easily, and Twitter has much more breadth - you're not locked in to just music.

Ping needs some unique features to make it worthwhile using. It's main unique selling point is that it highlights music your friends  like or have bought, but the chances of me liking what my friends like is probably 25% at best. Everyone has unique tastes in music and my music collection is unique to me. Sometimes I find that a friend likes the same album or track, but just as often, or perhaps more often, they don't. I was asked what I wanted for my birthday some time ago and I said "The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table." Everyone thought I was joking at first, then they just gave me weird looks when they realised I wasn't. Or how about another album in my collection, Django Reinhardt and the Quintette du Hot Club de France. So seeing what other people are buying or liking isn't always useful, and this is supposed to be Ping's USP.

Another fault of Ping is that it's hard to stop people posting junk messages and spam. Apparently it has attracted quite a lot of them and it's still very early days. Wait a bit and it could get a lot worse. Apple needs to do something about this and it might have to tighten up the rules, such as only people that have purchased music can post messages, which would avoid people signing up with fake details and posting spam.