Let's just get this out of the way... Konfabulator is now free. Yup. If you download version 2.1 you know what you'll never ever see? That's right a registration reminder. Fear not, there's nothing sneaky in there, no spyware, no ads, nothing that's keeping track of information and sending it to us... it's pure, uncut Konfabulator goodness.
Now, we can currently hear the cries of all those people who've recently purchased Konfabulator. Fear not, people, for you will be given the gift of a refund if you purchased Konfabulator 2.0 or later. Revel in the glory of it.
Yahoo? Yahoo!
Yup, the big announcement we've been sneaking around and working up to is that we've been acquired by Yahoo!. We're really excited about this, and here's the big reason why... they have free espresso on campus! That's right, no more $80 a week Starbucks bills!
Another reason we're excited about it, is the very cool big picture. See, when we first thought of Konfabulator, one of the key pieces was accessing internet content. Well guess what Yahoo has boat-loads of? Yup. And what's really great is that they're starting to open it up to everyone in a format that's useable outside the traditional browser, as XML feeds. Guess how they're going to provide real-world examples of how to use this stuff. Yup... Konfabulator. So really, depending on how you look at it, we're taking over Yahoo! We're going to make it so the best way to access their data is via slick little Widgets.
But what about the developers?
We are actually focusing really hard on making sure developers are first class citizens in our new home. With all this cool Konfabulator stuff comes Yahoo's new XML APIs. Since we're kick-starting Yahoo's Developer Network, this means that our current Konfabulator community will become the founding members of Yahoo's Developer community. Widgets like TV Scraper won't need to scrape any more (there goes the name) and will get our full support during development. Awesome. Grassroots support from third party developers is one of the primary reasons why Yahoo is so excited about Konfabulator, and that Yahoo is 100% commited to keeping Konfabulator free and open for anyone to build Widgets (and to create a massive installed base for developers to distribute their Widgets to).
Are you going to change the name?
Yes, to Yahooulator! and Yidgets.
Okay, maybe not.
Actually, the overall platform is now "Yahoo! Widgets". The core engine is still Konfabulator, and will remain that for a while, but don't be too surprised if that's slowly transitioned out. I know, we all love the name, but how do you tell your grandma "Go download Konfabulator!" and have her know what on earth you're talking about?
So, we're excited. You should be too. We're in good hands at Yahoo!, I mean, they acquired Flickr, right? How bad can they be?
Here's to Konfabulator's next phase of life. Cheers! *clink*
