RandomDorm is first Chatroulette copycat
I wondered how long it would take for someone to rip off the idea of Chatroulette. And it’s now happened, only a couple of months after Chatroulette really took off. The alternative service goes by the name of RandomDorm and is limited to U.S. college students.
Chatroulette, for the uninitiated, is a site which connects two strangers via Web cam. And it’s taken off to a massive degree. Which is why others are trying to jump on the bandwagon.
First out of the gate is RandomDorm which, according to the New York Times, is Chatroulette for college campuses. To use RandomDorm you need a college email address ending in .edu. This has one very big effect – removes the anonymity that makes Chatroulette so damn appealing. And not just to perverts.
Josh Weinstein, creator of RandomDorm, said:
The good thing about Chatroulette is that it has a low barrier to entry. Anyone can hop on and be instantly connected to someone in the world. We hope to emulate that simplicity and ensure a degree of community and security.
I really don’t see the point of RandomDorm. It’s a copycat site that strips away the very essence of what makes Chatroulette the success it is.
Related Posts:
March 20th, 2010
Hey Dave,
randomdorm is not the first and only existing clone of chatroulette. There are lots of other alternative sites already, just ask google. In my opinion http://www.chathopper.com is the best site atm but there are other ones also.
Greetz
Finn
March 22nd, 2010
Josh Weinstein is a complete dildo. He bought the a copy of chat roulette for $99 from chatroulette-clone.com and then changed the background.
He then used his prissy Princeton connections to get an article written.
He is, and will forever be a tool. Learn to code!!!
Fast Company sums up his skills pretty well.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1588874/randomdorm-and-goodcrush-chatroulettes-squeaky-clean-us-cousins
March 25th, 2010
Not only is it not the first clone (pretty sure Woome had their copycat out there before these guys) there are several copies on Facebook. Some of those look to be running the ‘real’ Chatroulette in the FB canvass, one called Chat-o-rama (http://apps.facebook.com/chatorama) is at least leveraging the Facebook advantage. The ‘groups’ option looks clever.