While driving home tonight on 101, I thought about the very first app that changed the way I view the “Internet” - PointCast. It was the first application that made me say “wow, I want that too.” Ofcourse, there are much cooler apps now but I still miss PointCast.

I dont see why PointCast wouldnt be a nice utility today given the abundance of bandwidth in home or corporate networks. AND I dont see why PointCast would not be a nice little business today given the openess of advertising networks (adsense) and affiliate networks (ValueClick). I would make a few changes though. . .

1. Instead of taking “feeds” from a central server, I want it to be RSS enabled and take feeds from multiple sources.

2. I also want to be able to create categories and place feeds under those categories. Furthermore, I want to be able to specify how each category of feeds show up on my PointCast screensaver - scroll w/ headlines, fade in/out with title + first paragrath, w and w/o pictures

3. A loop bar at the top of my desktop that alert me to newly written posts, bookmarks, events. . . anything that can be RSS’ed, kinda like the CNBC tape

5. I would also build a web based feed reader (or partner) to let people read the posts once they click on the OpenCast screensaver or tape

4. Hell, it could play Podcasts too if you want (maybe kinda annoying though) or even take a RRS feed of flickr pictures based on tags (how about posts based on delicious tags?)

How do I make money?

1. Interject adsense & graphical ads based on the content of my blogroll into both the screen saver and the tape. Make money on per click (adesense) and % transaction basis (affiliate network). Post on latest Nike shoe? Nike ad! Post on iTunes? Rhapsody Ad! etc etc

2. Place ads next to my feedreader ala Gmail

hmm, seems simple enough, maybe I’ll find a buddy to help me hack it out. . .

(wait a minute, this sounds kinda like MSFT Active Desktops. . . hmm. . . whatevers. . . as long as someone likes it on a utility level. . ME!)

EDIT: Just found out Mac OS Tiger comes with a RSS screensaver. . . cool. . . I need to get myself a ibook or something