Pownce, that’s the newest startup by Digg-founder Kevin Rose. Rose, who does everything to not betray his age in his infamous Diggnation vidcasts, is the darling of new and old media alike. Naturally, whatever he produces will be scrutinized by just about everyone (in that little micro-cosmos we all tend to confuse with the real world).
And while Digg-users surprisingly hated Pownce when they first heard about it, it’s now rather popular with the early-adopter crowd. But I’m jumping ahead, because with all probability, you don’t know yet what Pownce does.
In short, it’s a web-based instant messenger, a lot like Twitter, but without the mobile aspect. Add your friends, then decide who can see what you post.
And that’s it really. Apart from the fact that you can send files too, there’s not a whole lot that distinguishes it from any other of the Twitter clones. It is implemented quite nicely, and they do have a Pro-plan (20$ a year, removes ads, file-limit of 100MB and a shiny badge), but will that be enough for it to gain enough traction? Only time will tell.
Oh, and it does have a desktop app. It’s built on Adobe’s AIR, which is unfortunate for everyone not using Windows or Mac OSX. Which would be me, as always.
By the way, the whole thing is still in Beta, invite-only. If you want one, leave a comment with your email-address. And if you’re already on Pownce, this is my place on there.