Why Hasn’t Someone Made a FriendFeed Client for GMail like TwitterGadget?

I love TwitterGadget as a fully functioning Twitter client within GMail. Back in the "good old" days of Twitter, we had IM integration so these sorts of tools weren't needed if GMail was a major part of your workflow.  However, Twitter took that functionality (and Track) away from users in May '08, so we've been scrambling around to find the most efficient apps ever since.

While I think Seesmic Web has a great deal of potential, I'm still a fan of TwitterGadget plus TwitterSpy (which allows for semi-Track functionality based on the API… which is much slower than the original Track implementation).  So, I've got a contstant flow of tracked items (my alma mater, favorite sports, business terms, ideas I'm interested in pursuing, my name, etc) on my GMail IM. 

I've also got FriendFeed set up to deliver the same type of information flow through its fabulous IM integration (and email alerts as you can see in the label above).

But why hasn't someone developed a GMail gadget for FriendFeed along the same lines as TwitterGadget??

That would be killer and allow me to direct my Twitter, blogging (through Posterous), Facebook and FriendFeed accounts mostly through GMail.

Seriously, if you're a big GMail and Twitter user, give TwitterGadget (and TwitterSpy) a try.  And if you're a developer, get on the ball and deliver my FriendFeedGadget for GMail.  Thanks.

7 Replies to “Why Hasn’t Someone Made a FriendFeed Client for GMail like TwitterGadget?”

  1. friendfeed is a waste of developer resources sam

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  2. Brent Hopkins July 31, 2009 at 14:08

    I agree with you about TwitterGadget, it’s great. Haven’t ried Twitter Spy, will have a look at it. Thanks for the tip! Regarding friendfeed, I’m only just getting my feet wet so I don’t know if I’m a fan yet. It’s definitely an interesting technical achievement. After about an hour of plugging in various accounts I kind of felt like the cyber equivalent of the guy who walks around talking to himself and making odd gestures…

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  3. Sam Harrelson July 31, 2009 at 14:11

    Could you explain that a little further? There's a killer API, a dedicated and passionate crowd of early adopters and influencers, and a substantial creative legacy behind the project, so I'm not sure why it's a waste of dev resources. Thanks-Sam

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  4. Sam Harrelson July 31, 2009 at 14:14

    Thanks, Brent. I had the same impressions of FriendFeed when I first started dabbling in the service but then I hooked things up (with filters) via email and IM into my GMail and it has made all the difference. Whereas Twitter is my place of interaction, FriendFeed is the river of news/views for me now.

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  5. This is why it is sometimes frustrating to be using Google Apps versus the “unbundled” services like Gmail in particular. I’ve got a great start page with Twitter Gadget, Friendfeed, Bit.ly, Reader …. all right there for me, but I live in GMail not the start page, and Apps doesn’t let me set things up within Gmail. Frustrating because I know it can be done, but they just haven’t ported all functionality over within Apps. It’s probably kowtowing to the corporate IT mentality of don’t give them too much or they’ll mess it up.

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  6. Sam Harrelson July 31, 2009 at 14:44

    @Joe Yep, and that’s exactly why I’ve stuck with my unbundled service for personal use (have Apps for business and School but just fwd them all into the personal acct). Love my features!

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  7. I’ve lost track of where my personal ends and business begins.. so I’m trying to stay contained!

    Reply

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