That's No Space Station

Showing 11 posts tagged Internet

tech, humor, and nuance by David Chartier—tech distiller, freelance writer, Macworld contributor, wrangler of Finer Things in Tech

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“Here’s my point: businesses don’t get to pick the timetable for when their preferred model takes a permanent dirt nap. It’s insane to me that these business’s fans see this so much more clearly than the actual stakeholders do. The fans want desperately to see these places stay alive and many, like me, pay tons of actual cash every month or year to support that.”

kung fu grippe: Entitled to Care

Bullshit.

Most people don’t give a crap about where they get their laughs or information, so long as it’s free. “Because so many things on the Internet are free, everything else should be free.” They don’t want to see ads, don’t want to donate, won’t subscribe, don’t want to click something to magically generate a free penny that goes into a tip jar. In fact, there seems to be a growing collective distaste for the idea of you making money at all.

I admire Mr. Mann for spending tons of cash on the things that he loves. I often do the same. Most people don’t and—thanks to the current culture of the Internet—won’t.

This isn’t about some brave new world of change, and it’s not a revolutionary new business model that “old media” is trying to kick, scream, and blindly run away from. It’s pure, nihilistic entitlement.

Some people get to make great stuff on the Internet and make a name for themselves. Someone in a position of power gets a glint in their eye, and then these people get offers to speak around the country or get a job at an established company doing what they did in their garage for free. That’s awesome for them. Truly.

But what works for some people, or some companies, doesn’t work for others. The only revolution here is that people are turning a blinder eye in greater masses than ever to this essential fact of life.

It’s entitlement, and it’s bullshit.

“Let’s face it, the Internet was designed for the PC. The Internet is not designed for the iPhone. That’s why they’ve got 75,000 applications - they’re all trying to make the Internet look decent on the iPhone.”

Steve Ballmer

Never mind the fact that the majority of iPhone apps are games that have little-to-nothing to do with the Internet. That “Safari” app isn’t much to worry about either. But let’s face something else while we’re on a roll with the reality checks: When was the last time someone gave a shit about how the Internet looks on a Windows Mobile device?

Ballmer needs to stop talking and start producing. The man is an abbrasive jock who continually writes checks that very few people care to even look at anymore.

Short URLs are still a great idea

Despite tr.im’s unfortunate-though-tactless closure, I don’t agree that short URL services are a bad idea. Yes, they can be used for nefarious purposes. But so can kitchen knives and your television.

Short URL services still fulfill a very fundamental need: presenting long, complex URLs in a form that will not overflow short messaging systems or break across the myriad of devices and platforms we use. Even in 2009, after plenty of generational operating system revisions, my brother still gripes about the Mac and PC thing when the occasional URL he sends me with Outlook breaks in Mail, or vice versa. Many regular URLs would barely fit in a tweet, let alone leave room to provide context or a good zinger.

There are other solutions to the admittedly important problems of short URL service longevity, lack of viable business models, and the potential for spam. For one, each site or service could provide its own short URLs. In theory, the only reasons those URLs would ever break are: 1) there is a significant architectural change to the site that prevents maintaining those links, or 2) the site goes under and its content disappears anyway. Clink Ecker recently implemented such a system for Ars Technica, so a story like this gets a short URL like arst.ch/5wg. I’m poking around with a similar solution for a couple of sites I hope to launch soon.

Of course, a large company with enough of a stake in tracking social data could buy one of the many existing services, thus staking a claim that at least one service is here to stay. Perhaps this could be another way for Microsoft’s Bing.com to grow some mindshare and make its service more appealing. Google is also an obvious groom here.

Users could also start micro-paying to keep one or two particular services alive. They certainly, certainly could.

Websites, retailers, and the heart in your chest all check out sooner or later. Them’s the cards, and it’s not like short URLs are used for much serious, etched-in-the-stones-of-time linking in the first place. Truth is, tr.im’s evaporation really isn’t that big of a loss in the big picture (and I say this even though it was my favorite so far). URLs already created with tr.im will continue to resolve through at least December 31, 2009, and someone could easily pick it up before then and guarantee the links for even longer.

We should learn a few things from tr.im’s closing, but not damn its brethren. Short URLs are still a good idea and a necessity in today’s bite-sized culture. We just need to think about how to better implement short URLs with reliability and longevity in mind.

“I’m a guy who doesn’t see anything good having come from the Internet,” said Sony Pictures Entertainment chief executive officer Michael Lynton. “Period.”

Memo Pad, WWD.com

While this quote is pretty astounding by itself, Lynton throws it in reverse with his next statement and makes a pretty good point: “[The Internet has] created this notion that anyone can have whatever they want at any given time. It’s as if the stores on Madison Avenue were open 24 hours a day. They feel entitled. They say, ‘Give it to me now,’ and if you don’t give it to them for free, they’ll steal it.”

I have to agree, that remarkably selfish attitude is one of the most unfortunate and fundamental cultural shifts that came from the Internet. But people tout it as some bold, positive new reality that we should simply accept.