Blogging pre-posterous is going to look… just screwy

post@posterous.com would be a perfect user experience if it weren’t for the layers of complexity we’ve grown accustomed to and are frustrated in trying to locate in it.

When Mark said to me the other day that Posterous’ unique take on the sign-up process was that there wasn’t one, I thought he was being glib for the sake of argument. Apparently not. And I didn’t dream that that non-existent process was carried through the entire user experience.

The internet… is that the one with email?

One email and you’re blogging. Another email and you’re still blogging. Carry on forever if you like and never set a password or edit a profile.

When has the link between intention and action in written communication for public consumption ever been this direct? Even Luther had to let the ink dry before leaving his house with a hammer and nail.

Though I’m still not sure what I’ll do with it, I’m giving it a go (Posterous, not Lutheranism — I remain a staunch former-Catholic). I’ve never had the motivation to set up a blog and I can take no technical credit for administering the one you’re reading. I’m not saying it ever looked exactly difficult to sign up for a WordPress or Blogger account, but it was always more trouble than I was willing to take.

Posterous is so damn easy it left me with no excuse for not starting immediately. Blogging already represents a very low barrier to reaching a huge potential audience, and Posterous drives this ankle-high barrier nearly into the ground by stripping away administrative inconvenience.

It’s not unlike the difference between very cheap and free and I wonder where else we’re going to see invisible inconveniences like sign-ups rendered visible by their abolition.