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Google Acquires Dodgeball
kalki writes "Dodgeball.com, a service that uses mobile phones to help people meet up with friends who are in the same location, said on its website on Wednesday that it has been bought by Web search leader Google Inc. Also available on the official site is a Q&A about the deal." From the article: "As a two-person team, Alex and I have taken dodgeball about a far as we can alone. Since we finished grad school, we've been trying to figure out how to grow dodgeball and make it a better service along the way. We talked to a lot of different angel investors and venture capitalists, but no one really 'got' what we were doing - that is until we met Google."
"It's time for you to put your mouth where our balls are!"
We talked to a lot of different angel investors and venture capitalists, but no one really 'got' what we were doing - that is until we met Google."
I think what he's really saying is "We begged but no one offered us any money... until we met Google."
Trolling is a art,
I bet you'll see a google map (or satellite photo if that area is covered) with an overlay of where your friends are. It wouldn't be that hard.
(hey, Google could get into the cell business and triangulate you from its towers. Now that IS getting evil.)
Trolling is a art,
I remember reading a cartoon one of these days where basically before a job interview, the interviewer starts to mention all this "nasty" stuff about the interviewee because he checked the interviewee's Orkut and found all the groups where he belongs to, etc. I've also heard about people getting dumped because of Orkut. Many people have already closed their accounts because of this. If you are evil, you can find out A LOT about the person's life and do them harm.
Obviously dodgeball does not fall into this category, but it makes me think about all the services Google has planned. Obviously that overall they do more good than harm, but I can't help but think that some of this will be abused and used by organized crime, identity theft etc.
Think about it.
Now mix those three together. I wonder how far Google will go in integrating these services, and how much care they will take in preventing abuse. We'll just have to wait and see.
If you're searching Google to find out where your friends are hanging out, perhaps technological integration isn't exactly your biggest problem.
I've read your message a dozen times and still can't find Waldo.
If you don't know where your friends are -- they aren't your friends.
I'd say, if you've got so few friends you know where all of them are at any given moment, THEN you are a geek.
Strong words for an old-timer like you. You should know better. Did you buy that ID on eBay?
This is far from an egregious error. If it fails, it fails. If it succeeds, they reap the rewards. What are the chances of a business model such as this one failing? At this point, much lower than before. Apparently there were other idiots already using the service, but as soon as Google ties this system into their existing Hello, Picassa, and (possibly) future IM client, I believe potential is just oozing. There is no bigger gadget money-maker out there than cell phones. iPods are a distant second. And the high school/young college market is teeming with kids willing to pay for an inexpensive, unneeded service just like this. If it's free though, and it keeps them using Google services and so forth, how can this lose?
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I remember when personal computers were just finding a niche in business, and your choices were an x86 running DOS and a Mac. For us DOS guys, MS was this amazing Sorcerer's Tower in Redmond that kept coming up with newer, better office and personal apps. And we watched in awe as the graphics programs for Windows began to nose up on their Mac counterparts (if not their user base). MS was Great!
Then, somewhere along the line, circa early-mid 90's, somebody looked up and realized how pervasive they were. The Novell and WordPerfect satellites had been completely absorbed into the ever-burgeoning and hungry DeathStar they orbited, and even our phones, PDAs, TV set-top boxes, and browsers began to sport the Brand of the Beast. The backlash began, but the tide was unstem-able. We had become a Microsoft Nation, save for a few cells of Linux revolutionaries and a Mac sub-culture that, by its own choice, would not breed and so could not be counted upon in the long haul.
I am often reminded of the affection I and so many others had for MS 15 years ago, seeing it mirrored here daily in the gushing PR presented as "reporting" on the front page of slashdot. But MS brokered only tools, no matter how empowered those tools made us feel. Google brokers knowledge, and if we don't monitor their growth at least as cynically as we do that of Microsoft, we are fools.
May 12, 2005
Google, the company known primarily for its internet search engine, has announced today that it has acquired a dodgeball. Eric Schmidt, the CEO of the pioneering internet company, made the purchase at a silicon valley sporting goods superstore, Sports Authority, for the sum of $12.95.
"This acquisition will become a cornerstone of our future growth plans," said Schmidt. "In the coming weeks, this dodgeball will be hurled at tremendous speed within the executive offices. It is likely to knock phones, pen holders, and even some of those magnetic paper-clip boxes off of the desks of many employees. This should stir things up, and get our best people thinking either outside of the box, or about looking for another job. The combined one-two punch of increased thinking and lower payroll costs will propel Google forwards into the next century."
Sally Jones, an employee at Sports Authority, said that the transaction went smoothly. "Initially, when we met with Schmidt, we were concerned the acquisition would be a hostile takeover. However, he assured us that his plans for the dodgeball were based on growth and solid corporate fundamentals. The fact that his credit card was not declined was also assuring." Sally says that she recommended the purchase of an air pump to help inflate it, but that Schmidt declined, stating that the company's "[value] is already inflated."
The acquisition comes on the heels of rumours that Microsoft has plans to acquire a badminton set. A Microsoft spokesman was not available for comment.
Old people fall. Young people spring. Rich people summer and winter.
Here's a scenario for you. Me and a friend were out sportbike riding around MtBaker, we were into some twisties I was slightly behind my buddy. I look to the left and see a group of fellow Canadians at the side of the road it looks like there's a problem. I start flashing my hi beam and honking my horn but my partner is in Ducati World and sees nothing but the next corner to attack. So I turn around and figure he will notice sooner or l8tor and turn around. It turns out This fellow lost it in a corner, he was ok but his vfr was bent, we straightened the front end as best we could, then they headed back home and I continued on to hook back up with my partner. I checked the restaurant at the parking lot of the ski hill but while I was there my partner went by the other way. I never found him. by the time was able to get him on his phone he was back at the border and I was having lunch at the next tavern. If we could have stopped and located each other using this it would have been a better day.
Many a long talk since then I have had with the man in the moon; he had my confidence on the voyage. Joshua Slocum