The New Netscape ... Digg has nothing to worry about

Submitted by Patrick Grote on Thu, 06/15/2006 - 2:40pm.

Jason Calacanis is the godfather of the blog networks. He was one of the first people to realize that aggregating blog content in various niches could be profitable and exciting. When Weblogs, Inc. was purchased by AOL, Jason took a expanding role in bringing the new internet to AOL. His latest efforts are the new Netscape Beta, which has been termed a Digg killer.

Digg needs some real competition, as the luster has worn off and the site isn't aging that well. It's showing that group control almost always means that people are silenced and the really good stories have little chance of seeing the light of day unless the involve the words Apple, the best or Nintendo.

With the new Netscape people were hoping that it'd give Digg a run for its money. After looking at the site this morning Digg has nothing to worry about.

The site is very Web 2.0ish with smooth transitions, quick action and the anticipated boxes. It is a Digg clone with a few new features such as showing the weather for your location, adding new categories and scrolling tabs. Nothing stands out as redefining or impressive.

When you click on a story to read more detail you are offered the chance to VISIT THE SITE. At Digg and other social aggregator sites you are taken directly to the site. At the Beta Netscape site you are dumped into a framed page. Yep, you read right. A framed page where even if you click a link on the site that has been framed you are stuck on the Netscape page. There is a small option named CLOSE THIS FRAME, which then takes you to the site. There is no option for setting the default action to not use the frame.

Welcome to the early 1990s. Not only are framed pages counter intuitive to how the web is used today, they serve as gatekeeper for the Netscape site. The goal is to keep you on their site and captive to their stories and advertising. I wonder if anyone really thought this through on the team?

The site is in beta, so you would hope that they take the feedback that is given and make the appropriate changes.