😸 Old school internet

Happy Friday and welcome back to the Leaderboard. In the final issue of the week, we're diving into Flipboard's new app that brings some excitement back to the internet, an always-on mental health companion, and whether or not we really need another AI comment generator. Let's dive in.

Flipboard Surf: A new app for browsing the open social web.

Flipboard’s new app, Surf, feels like a nudge to step off the algorithmic hamster wheel and rediscover the open web. It’s essentially a browser built for exploring social content across platforms—think blogs, indie sites, and communities you don’t stumble upon in your typical feed. The idea is refreshing, especially when most apps are designed to keep you locked into their ecosystem. Surf feels more like a guide than a gatekeeper, helping you find the stuff you didn’t even know you were looking for. It’s a cool concept, but I can’t help wondering—will we really swap the ease of curated feeds for the thrill of digging around? Still, I’m curious to see if this could bring some adventure back to browsing.

Nora: A 24/7 AI mental health companion that protects your identity

Nora is the latest in a series of always-accessible AI companions that have launched in the past year. Its specific value prop is that it provides CBT-style emotional counseling (modules include “depression,” “postpartum,” and “divorce or separation”), and that it preserves users’ identities by storing all data locally. It’s hard to figure out right now which of these 24/7 companions will take off, but it's clear that some companion will. What will become of our internal monologue, I wonder, in a world where we can always get instant reassurance from our artificial assistant?

Eden: One-click create comments on any webpages with AI

Eden, miraculously #1 on Monday’s leaderboard, is perhaps my least favorite launch of the year. While I don’t think the world needs another AI-comment generator, I’m pro-builder in whatever form that takes. That said, packaging up an AI-comment generator behind hand-wavey statements suggesting that they’re making the web less like a “crowded house party” and solving for more “thoughtful conversations” is disingenuous. If your holiday meal for me is more spam, so be it, just serve it up with a side of truth.