Today I got an email from the NYT about their new web-based service, My Times:
a new way to personalize NYTimes.com. My Times lets you create a customized page gathering your favorite information from The New York Times and elsewhere on the Web, with guidance (if you want it) from Times reporters and editors.
So basically it’s an AJAX-y RSS reader. It works real well as far as I can tell– easy to add content, drag/ drop elements, and to click through to full items. The twist (as they mention above) is the "My Journalist’s Pages" concept, which allows you to see the content on NYT people’s pages and maybe add what they’re interested in to your page.
This is a good example of doing nothing new– Bloglines allows you to surf other people’s public subscriptions, and pretty much any self-respecting internet application has a social component to it these days– while making an impact with quality.
It’s one thing to wade through a bunch of crappy YouTube videos to find the Lynne & Tessa in the rough, but it’s another to find out what design legend Stephen Heller is interested in (btw, he likes gigposters.com).
All in all, a nifty new addition to the web-based RSS reader world. Not sure how much it’ll drag me away from Bloglines, but a welcome new addition and a great way for me to get more out of my subscription.
