AppFail Sets Out To Catalog The Web's Failures

The word “fail” has become somewhat of an Internet meme over the last year or so. Fails ranging from the Twitter “fail whale” to the recent CNN and Rackspace fails are not going unnoticed. People find them funny, interesting, and annoying. A new site called AppFail is looking to take advantage and capitalize of these web failures by cataloging them in detailed blog posts.

The site, which was started by Allan Jude and Michael Spencer, is divided into four sections, App Fails, Infrastructure Fails, Design Fails, and Security Fails.  In typical fail fashion the posts are written in a sarcastic and technical manner.  Each blog post explains what happened, why the site, service, or software failed, and even offers suggestions on how to fix the “fail”.

AppFail has already covered how Michael Jackson’s death literally crippled the Internet as well as the recent Identi.ca upgrade woes.  The site is just getting started, they encourage people to send them tips and leads through Twitter or PBJ.

It is an interesting concept for a site and it definitely has potential.  I think in order for the site to truly gain a large amount of traffic it needs to become more a social site.  I would like to see AppFail become the Digg of web failures.  AppFail should consider allowing user submissions and implementing a rating system where users can vote up or down these web failures.

Disclosure: Allan Jude and I are both volunteer IRCop’s on the WyldRyde IRC Network.