Slashdot Mirror
The New Brat Pack of Silicon Valley
bart_scriv writes "BusinessWeek looks at the current entrepreneurs of Web 2.0 via the lens of Kevin Rose and Digg. Although the article focuses on the rise and success of Digg, it also looks at the ethos of Web 2.0 and its successful companies, including YouTube, Del.icio.us, Facebook and Xfire. From the article: 'Clearly much has changed since 1999, and Rose and his fellow wealth punks have little in common with the sharp-talking MBAs in crisp khakis and blue button-downs who rushed the Valley as the NASDAQ climbed. In the late 1990s, entrepreneurs were the supplicants, and Sand Hill Road, dotted with venture-capital firms, was the mecca. Dot-commers relied on VCs for the millions needed to buy hardware, rent servers, hire designers, and advertise like crazy to bring in the eyeballs. For their big stakes of, say, $15 million for 20% of a company, venture capitalists received board seats, control of the management levers, and most of the equity. Now, it's more like: Maybe we'll let you throw a few bucks our way -- if you get it. Otherwise, get lost.'"
Not entirely. You would probably only here of Xfire if you are a gamer. It's a Game tracking/IM type service. That's the jist of what it is. They have recently been bought by Viacom however. (Why on earth Viacom wants such a service is beyond me).
It's impossible to see how YouTube is currently profitable.
It does however, thanks to the team of legal snakes hired to draft its licence agreements, own the rights to everything posted on it. So one day, in theory, they could sift through the dreadful noise that is its video contributions for those few pearls and subsequently sell them.
Thoroughly screwing the original film maker in the process.
Now, there is no evidence that I've seen that YouTube is evil per se, however the licence agreement looks like nefarious inclinations to me. At best they've done the old fashioned Web 1.0 trick of vacuous, self-aggrandizing, self-publicising hyperbole swiftly followed by buyout by larger company. Or, at worst they are deliberately out to screw film makers in a way that makes the MPAA look like fluffy kittens.
Either way personally, I would never ever post anything on that site.
Thoroughly screwing the original film maker in the process.
Oh baloney.
Here's what it says: What is so hard to understand about that?
You don't want them to redistribute your creation anymore?
Then take it off the damn website fer chrissakes!
Either way personally, I would never ever post anything on that site.
Stupid is as stupid does.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Chip Kellam's Gamebattles is my pick for the next one to get picked up. And Chip is the classic Brat Packer. Hope he's on the next Business Week...