Interview with Paul Anthony of Pinnpl.com

PSN: Please describe your professional background....

PA: I don't have much of a professional background. You can consider me a "newcomer". Though, I have just started with Reevoo.com, an online product reviews company. I am heading their community features effort.

PSN: Favorite websites?

PA: For news, and videos, I regularly visit digg.com, and reddit.com. I also frequent worsethanfailure.com . When I'm out and about, I'll read Y! Tech News, and BBC Tech News, on my BlackBerry.

PSN: What exactly is pinppl?

PA:Pinppl is what is known as a Mobile Social Network. Except, it's quite a bit different. It's tailored to BlackBerry users, and utilises some of the BlackBerry's PIN messaging capabilities. Some have described it as MySpace for BlackBerry's.

PSN: How did you come up with the idea for pinppl?

PA: As soon as I picked up the BlackBerry, and learned of the PIN messaging features, I just thought it was great; but, I didn't know anyone else with a BlackBerry to talk to! My initial idea was to set up a rather crude PIN list, where people could just submit their details -- but that wouldn't be much fun. ;) I'd wanted to develop a social network for some time, and saw an application with this idea, as an experiment.

PSN: How many current subscribers do you have?

PA: It's nearing 1,000 registered users.

PSN: What sort of information can someone list in their profile?

PA: What I'd call the "standard": photo, tags, friends and general writing space.

PSN: Where do you see the Blackberry in 10 years?

PA: I'm not sure if I can answer that. The Web has brought so many new things in the past 10 years, and I can't envisage what it will be like 10 years from now. I believe that at some point there'll be native VOIP implementation - this will be the next big step, I feel.

PSN: How do you feel about the current state of Mobile Social Software (MoSoSo)?

PA:I think it's fine. The handsets just have to catch up a bit, and be more adopting of standards.

PSN: Do you think that most internet users are familiar with MoSoSo technology?

PA: Probably not. Most people don't browse the Web on their mobiles, as they feel they're not getting the full Web experience. Perhaps the iPhone will bring about a change here.

PSN: How can someone sign up for pinppl?

PA: Pinppl requires that you have a BlackBerry to sign up. All you do is visit pinppl.com, and there's nothing more to registration than inputting your BlackBerry PIN, and chosen password.