Pownce v Skitch

myskitch550.jpg

Screenshot_1.png

It is over a month now since I first wrote about Skitch and as promised at the time I want top revisit it and see how it is going.

Let me put this into context. At the time I wrote:

the hype around Pownce seems to have knocked it off the front page a little which I feel is a shame because as a concept and application I think it is far more interesting and useful

So how am I using the two services?

Pownce

I am struggling to find any useful purpose for this on a day to day basis. It has a lot of potential, but as yet the unreliability of the service, coupled with the somewhat repetitive content means I am finding it difficult to get enthusiastic about it.

Compared to twitter I am finding that less and less ‘friends’ are using it, and when they do it is primarily as a repeat of twitter, just to a (slightly) different audience.

Personally I use Pownce in a very limited way: On Almerimar Life I use it as news bulletin board, both to broadcast new posts and events, and to have a ‘recent’ message on the site. I do exactly the same on this site. I have yet to share a file, broadcast and event or post anything detailed – I just don’t have any need and to be frank it doesn’t seem to add anything that doesn’t already exist. In effect it is a marketing tool and nothing else at the moment as as the ‘friends’ list is to all intent and purpose the same as the twitter list it is probably 80% duplication.

Skitch

Skitch on the other hand goes from strength to strength. It seems that the overwhelming use is in the design arena where it seems an excellent means of sharing a vision and comments. I have certainly found that I have used it this way pretty much on a weekly basis.

MyAppleStuff_says...-20070801-073132.jpg

li_saL_ROUGH.ai_@_66.67%_(RGB_Preview)_-20070725-235027.jpg

Fullscreen-20070720-001507.jpg

These are all recent examples of projects where Skitch has been used as a integral part, saving time and removing confusion in communicating views, thoughts and suggestions.

What I like particularly is the ease and flexibility that it provides. All in all avery welcome addition to the ‘tool kit’.

Judging by the photos and messages I received from the people that I sent invites to that would appear to be the case with them as well:

AlfretonHall_Retouch-1.jpg

Ok, so got to use Skitch in earnest tonight. Have been refreshing the fonts/colours on a clients website and wanted them to see the proposed changes. Fired up skitch – 3 snaps – 1 of the old design, 1 of the proposed – clean for comparison, 1 of the proposed design with annotations and arrows. Total time in skitch – 4mins or so. Results excellent and client impressed with the screenshots. Loving this piece of software. Dunks

I’ve been using Skitch and I love it. It’s been very useful as well. Thanks again for the invite. David

An overwhelming thumbs up for Skitch then and at best a ‘wait and see’ on Pownce.

As ever please let me have your views.

12 thoughts on “Pownce v Skitch

  1. matt

    I just started using Skitch a few days ago, and have been “using” Pownce for a few weeks now. I must admit that I’m not finding too much use for Pownce either.

    The interface is great and I like the ideas of what it does, but I’m not finding that I use it for anything. The people I want to follow and update are on Twitter.

    Skitch, on the other hand, is way cool. It’s the perfect companion for sharing quick images in conversations and blog posts.

  2. Robert

    Like Matt above i have the same feeling about both applications. I think i’ll lose the pownce account in a few weeks. Most messages are copied straight from twitter anyway. Skitch on the other hand has been really awesome! I use it for design purposes too and the clients like the fact that i can point out problems or changes quickly. Skitch is a keeper 🙂

  3. Blake Brannon

    I have not used either of the two applications but a quick overview on their sites and I will agree with the masses. I don’t really see the use of Pownce. It’s too easy just to use email to do the same thing. Skitch however does seem to have a distinctive notch, offering a service you can’t get anywhere else (not to my knowledge).

  4. Gary

    Pownce (like Twitter) holds no interest for me. I see feeds on some of the sites I regularly visit, but I have never visited the “mother-ship” sites to find out about getting involved.

    Skitch hasn’t been much use to me either. After getting it, I used it once and found the effort frustrating. Now, I realise that much of that could be put down to “learning on the job”, but even so, I’ve not been drawn back to it since then. To be fair, I did have a use for it that one time and haven’t really had any need to use it since then. But equally, if there had been a use, I’m not sure that I would have bothered going back to Skitch and would probably have used Photoshop in preference.

  5. Wayne LeFevre

    Although I don’t use Skitch a lot, since I don’t really have anything to “show”, It’s a terrific program and agree with your assessment. And thanks Chris for giving me the invite!

  6. Chris Marshall Post author

    @Blake: if you want a invite to either let me know.

    @Gary: I can see how a Photoshop ‘veteran’ would find that to be the case, but for a novice user and/or someone wanting a quicker and easier option I think Skitch is great.

    @Wayne: you are welcome

  7. Danny

    I got on Pownce pretty much just because of the hype and I now just don’t find a use. Sure there are more features that twitter but all my friends are on twitter and all my pownce posts would be identical. So there is zero point in having both tbh.
    I just got on skitch (pretty late I know) and Im loving it as everyone else is :D. Its just so fast, it allows me to send visual feedback to people so much faster than before, and for that its priceless.

  8. Robert

    I just stumbled uponJing. It looks a lot like skitch, but with video support. Has anyone tried it yet?

  9. Chris Marshall Post author

    I loooked at Jing, and use it very occassionally. It is ok, but not as easy to use in my opnion as Skitch. Of course the vieo function is good for capturing processes etc for screencasts.

  10. Gary

    Chris – I’ve been meaning to ask…

    Why compare Pownce v Skitch? Surely that’s like comparing oranges and, say, books? Err, or something… One’s a service for sharing simple text messages and the other (basically) for annotating and sharing graphical images.

    It would seem more logical to compare Pownce v Twitter, or Skitch v Jing.

  11. Chris Marshall Post author

    Good question – and it would make sense to do the two comparisons you mention.

    I do it this way at they were both ‘invite only’ beta’s that came out at the same time, both offering a service.

    At the time of my original article I suggested that the ‘hype’ around Pownce had overshadowed the ‘substance’ behind Skitch and I wanted to revist that thought and see if I had been correct.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *