The other day, while digging around for the day’s news, I chose not to cover an iPad app that seemed to be grabbing a bit of attention. This iPad app was Flipboard, the social news doodad that presents your Twitter and Facebook accounts as a sexy analog of print media. ‘So what,’ I said, ‘it’s an app. Whatever.’ Boy, do I have egg on my face. Colour me all kinds of mistaken.
Hype for the app has reached a fever pitch, and an ocean of users attempt to log in. “Due to overwhelming interest,” the app’s error message reads, “we are currently limiting the rate at which we are accepting new Facebook and Twitter connections.”
The company is slated to release a new version shortly that will let you keep tabs on the waiting list, so you’ll know when it’s your turn to experience the apparent wonder that is Flipboard. In the meantime? Follow their Twitter for updates as they cramble for more server space. I actually meant scramble. That’s a typo, but I think I’m going to leave it. It seems fitting in this circumstance. ‘Cramble’. Guys, we need more server capacity, we gotta cramble! Let’s see if that catches on.
Flipboard isn’t alone in its problems – hell, even Twitter itself is down nearly daily – and it looks like it might just be worth the wait. If you’ve got an iPad, you may as well take a number and have a seat.