Quick Pitch: Pearltrees is a new visual way to organize content on the Web and connecting people's interests.
Genius Idea: How do you organize the web on the browser? Since the time of Netscape, we've been using bookmarks and a wide series of folders to manage our favorite websites and web pages. Perhaps in some instances you use something like Google Reader to organize your articles and favorite things on YouTube, but the result is the same: it's a messy affair.
Pearltrees is nothing less than a reinvention of how we organize the web. The service provides a completely unique and visual experience to saving your favorite websites, organizing what you find interesting, and even seeing what others are saying about specific web destinations.
Signing up for Pearltrees is simple, but getting used to the interface and all of its features is not as easy. Once you add your personal information, you are presented with a display connecting you to a web of circles, which are called pearls. In this system, you add websites you find interesting (either manually, via a browser extension, or through bookmarklets) into your profile. You also have control over where the pearls are placed on the page.
Now for the organization part: you can create complex systems of pearls, known as pearltrees. These complex trees are like your bookmark folders and subfolders, but visually represented. If you create a pearl for YouTube, you could create a tree filled with nothing but your favorite YouTube videos. The same goes for articles or any other type of web content. You can collapse or expand trees at will.
Clicking on a pearl gives you a range of options that go beyond visiting your favorite website. It provides a preview of the page and offers options to share it via social media. The most unique aspects are the connections and discussions, however. You can see how others have organized any website within the pearltrees, along with their notes on that website. In a way, it's like Delicious, but more in-depth and visually rich.
Pearltrees takes a time investment to make it useful. Once you've spent some time with it though, it's easy to get addicted. It's more intuitive than bookmarks and provides a social context comparable to Delicious. It's still in Alpha too, meaning that you can expect it to evolve significantly as its team better understands what users want and need.
Spark of Genius Series Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark
BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.