@Rockmelt Browser, a first impression

Rockmelt, according to their site, is “re-imagining your online experience by creating a new web browser that makes it easy to stay in touch with friends, search online, and get updates from your favorite websites.”  My explanation?  It’s a Google Chrome-based browser that’s been modified to integrate social networks as a “native” part of the browsing experience.  You can read and watch more about the browser from the folks at Rockmelt (video embedded below).  I want to offer a few first impressions from an educational perspective after tinkering with it for a little while. If you decide you’re interested, let me know; I have a few invites available.

Social Networking induced ADD

I do like the social networking integration, depending upon the situation. It provides “always” on Facebook and Twitter, including if you choose, notifications for new status updates.  Your friends are a click away when browsing, and your friends can easily reach you via your social networks.  It’s not easy to miss a friend bumping into FB chat or a new Twitter mention coming in.  You can also add buttons/alerts for specific feeds/websites.  I said I like the integration “depending upon the situation.”  IF trying to work or accomplish a serious task in a browser, Rockmelt may not be the best choice; it does a very good job of facilitating social-network induced ADD.  But, IF you are wanting to browse and share via FB/Twitter and/or interact with your social network, I believe Rockmelt comes close to replacing desktop clients used in addition to other browsers (i.e. Seesmic).

Chrome Based means Chrome Apps & Extensions, sort of.

One very intriguing aspect of the browser is that it appears, at least somewhat, compatible with Chrome Extensions and Chrome Apps.  Makes sense given it’s a Chrome based browser… duh.  However, I was a little disappointed in that extensions aren’t entirely usable given the extensions “sit” in an “Edge” of the Rockmelt interface – a vertical toolbar on the right side of the browser window.  This creates a problem for extensions which have a drop down browser window/frame; since they’re designed to sit in a horizontal toolbar in Chrome, they don’t render correctly in Rockmelt.  Most important for me – the Diigo Chrome extension does not function when installed in Rockmelt.  I think that if you’re going to build on Chrome and promote that fact, then you should make darn sure you make adjustments to your product to enable the extensions and apps you’re promoting.

Edge Sets & Education Implications

The first thing I imagined when looking at the interface was, “What if Rockmelt could connect to different networks on startup?  Or enabled switching between networks on the fly?”  If I could create different “sets” of edges that I could switch back and forth between different social networks and groups, the browsing experience changes radically with each set because the people I’m interacting with changes.

A step further… Instead of connecting Rockmelt to Facebook only, what if I could connect it to my institutional LMS?  Instead of FB friends on the friends “edge” it showed all of the other students and faculty in my classes with links to their profiles? the ability to see if they’re online? to open chat sessions or send them messages through the LMS?  What if the buttons on the app “edge” showed LMS tools like calendars, or course links or discussion forums?  Basically, Rockmelt could leverage Blackboard or Desire2Learn or Sakai APIs to facilitate instant social networking tool for the LMS.

Future Extensibility?

How far away, if it’s not already possible through Chrome extensions, are we from also having one button access to video conferencing or VoIP calls with folks through this type of browser?  I guess when Facebook adds the ability to instantly VoIP or video call with FB friends, the Rockmelt interface will improve further.

Now that I say that, I’m wondering if Facebook would venture into purchasing and promoting a “Facebook” browser?  I’m sure they could screw up what appears to be a pretty good product, for starters.