The beta of AOL CityGuide was announced today (see the list of cities in beta). Since my current project–you know, the one that makes me want to find a new job–is tangentially involved with CityGuide, I have some interest in the product.
As Jason Calacanis says, “the first step in sucking less is knowing that you suck.” Unfortunately, society has been so severely perverted by political correctness that folks can’t tolerate anything but constructive criticism. Frankly, that’s a big wad of bull-hooey. Sometimes, your best feedback comes from those who are the most passionate and that can sometimes lead to angry flailing. You can trust me that I’m smart enough to read what you write, listen to what you mean and appreciate the time you took to share it. It’s more important to me that you tell me the truth than the way in which you express it. So, in that spirit, I put forth a few questions:
- What do you hate about the new AOL CityGuide beta?
- What features are missing? Looking for something you can’t find?
- What is wrong with it? Anything broken or stupid?
- What would it take to make you want to use the product?
Of course, I’d love to hear your positive feedback, too! Tell me what you love about the product, what you find most useful, how you couldn’t live without it, and so on. I’m sure the folks working hard on the product would appreciate hearing it, now and then. But, I think if we listen to and act on the negative feedback, it will lead to more people eventually giving positive feedback, so tell me what’s on your mind.
Oh, and just in case you’d never seen the AOL CityGuide product, here’s a quick visual comparison, with links to both:
Programmer, husband, father, singer, guitarist, tinkerer, reverse engineer, strange, and living in New Jersey. 
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