Cullect, simplify your reading life
A short time ago I saw Garrick Van Buren demonstrate Cullect. We began the conversation by talking about APML, something I've publicly raved about. My understanding was that APML was a way to program your attention data into your feed reader. Then I met Garrick.
Cullect is so smart that it doesn't need APML. Garrick programmed Cullect to understand nine (or was it ten?) gestures that measure your affinity for a particular article. In this way, as I read posts from various blogs, news feeds and searches, Cullect tallies my behavior and begins to understand which articles I will want to see.
I decided to challenge Cullect with what I thought would be a very difficult task: show me photographs I like. I thought this would be hard because photographs don't have text that can be scanned and I generally do not care what a photo blog post says, outside of the actual photograph. Well, I am amazed. I've been working on my Cullect photography reading list for about a week now and Cullect shows me the photographs I like.
Simplify your reading life
I have been using Google Reader for about six months. I like that I can collect over 300 feeds and still get through them but I have developed some awful habits by using Google Reader. I tend to tear through unread posts and only skim headlines for interesting tid bits. Google Reader collects all my unread messages and tells me how much reading I have to do to clean up my inbox for the web. That is stressful! I've marked everything as read several times and I just feel guilty about it.
Cullect, on the other hand, has allowed me to slow down and actually read. I know that the posts will be arranged in order for me based on my past reading habits. So, if I only have time to read three posts, I can be assured that reading the first three posts in my Cullect reading list will be satisfying and relevant to my interests.
Here is a comparison of my photography reading list in Google Reader and my photo reading list in Cullect.
Have many interests
Cullect allows me to have multiple interests while letting them cross over each other. I can set up just one reading list if I am only interested in reading one topic. If I set up a reading list for each theme I am interested in, Cullect will allow me to have recommendations for each category. I can also use the same feed to fuel several reading lists and Cullect keeps my reading habits separate.
Why you should pay for this service
I know, everything on the internet is free and having a dollar sign lurking around just makes me nervous. I stumbled on Cullect in January and immediately closed the window when I saw that it was a paid service. Now that I have had a chance to play with it, I see that Cullect is a service that is worth paying for. It will allow me to collect articles, read them on my own schedule and feel assured that what I am reading is relevant to my interests.
Cullect, go test drive it today.