free.near.mefreecycling aggregator & mobile client

Alex Butcher, @alexbutcherNick Butcher, @craftyJason Cale, @mrjaseSeb Nash, @sebbo

+ Seb Nash from ‘Wizards of the Digital Frontier,’ introducing our entry: free.near.me.

freecycling ™

• giving away unwanted items to others (gift economy)

• reducing consumerism, saving landfills

+ very quick introduction to ‘freecycling’ (the mechanism). define terms.+ we feel that this is a problem that the Internet, in conjunction with location-aware mobile devices, could solve much more effectively.

freecycle.org

+ originator, market leader. but there are problems with Freecycle. OpenFreecycle (openhacklondon winner) addressed closed nature of Freecycle (based on Yahoo! Groups).+ other wider concerns for Freecycle. community disputes, mutinies, etc. threaten this valuable service.

reyooz.com

+ but this is the Internet, when users get frustrated or dissatisfied, other services emerge. luckily, that’s happening.+ Reyooz is an example of a new wave of freecycling site. well designed, generous API and other features that we developers expect from modern web services.

+ the emerging marketplace.

• aggregate and search across sites

• saved searches with push notifications

• local searches (geo-location)

• other notifications (Twitter, SMS…)

free.near.me

+ aggregation saves you having to sign up for all sites, and keep on top of them.+ push notifications — freecycling etiquette is “first come, first serve.” push notifications direct to mobile device would be highly advantageous in competition for desirable items.

Demo

+ Jase presents service technology.+ Nick presents mobile client.+ Alex concludes: “we want to create a service that would be useful for individuals and beneficial to the wider community. not bore/shame people with stats.”

Thank you