From: Adam Rifkin -4K (adam@XeNT.ics.uci.edu)
Date: Wed May 03 2000 - 14:23:07 PDT
Nice response from mdm8 that I can't share.
Nice response from danbri:
> I guess they persuaded enough people that the world isn't about to
> mass migrate to mobile-phone-organiser-camera devices from 35mm. Cos if
> everyone did move to photo-capable hi tec gagetry, many of their
> premises drop off the edge of the business plan. If I sync my
> photo-capable gadget with the Web, the data format of the images on
> there doesn't matter, as I'll also be syncing messages, calendars, todo
> lists, contacts books, so will need a generic Web data service not a
> photo-specific one.
I'm beginning to see the vision of a "synchronized web" where every
device in my life sync's with every other device in my life. I guess
people are already trying to deal with this problem, e.g.,
http://www.intellisync.com/
http://www.syncml.org/
Talk about the interconnectedness of all things... Puma's purchase of
http://www.netmind.com/ seems even more brilliant in retrospect (thanks,
distobj).
> ps. the biggest downer for 35mm versus futuristic
> phone/organiser/photo gadgets is that the latter is capable of burning
> into image files global positioning metadata indicating where (and
> when) the snap was snapped. When this goes mainstream it'll be much
> easier for Web indexers to do cute things like show photos taken
> within some geographic location. Countless neat apps could be built on
> top of this...
How long will it be before someone writes sNapster? :)
Tomwhore also had a nice response:
> Phots are still the eyes of the masses. They live not thru the memorys
> recolections of the playback of a time and space, they thumb thru the
> packed albums of snaps.
Remind me to invest in Sandisk or one of those other memory stick
stocks. Oooo, I just remembered Silicon Storage Technology... gotta go
look those dudes up again...
http://biz.yahoo.com/p/s/ssti.html
Anyone want to drive by their Sunnyvale offices for me and see how many
cars are there still working at midnight before I plunk some money down
on em and spin the roulette wheel? :)
> Most people are trained to never trust thier own minds to document a
> moment. It needs to be snapped. Shutter clicks, film exposed to memory,
> carpe diem.
One of the most interesting queries on Gnutella I've seem stream by is
"Naked Pictures of Bill Gates".
> All that film, all those memorys , each and ever blink of the mind needs
> to be processed. The consumer will go somewhere, be apart of some
> process....snapfish wants to be the process made into community, the
> collected album of the family consumer. They build the means and ways to
> develope, process, enlarge, save , view and share the memorys.
Tom, you and I need to go into business together right now. You make me
want to plunk down $40 million of my own money with this great rhetoric
you're spinning here. (Okay, technically I don't have anywhere near $40
million, but if I did... :)
> How can this not be a great platform to push ads, positions products,
> pitch ideas and control the moemry of a globe?
All we need is Tim Byars to do our marketing, Lloyd Wood to cover the
"bouncing off satellites" angle, Joebar to program it in Java, and Rob
Harley to be the bouncer at our company pub. [Says Adam, trolling four
people who used to get FoRK delivered to their inboxes, to see if
they'll bother scrutinizing the middle of every long winded digression
for their names the way Kibo used to. I think lwood uses a spider to
check for his name or something. Man I'd like to buy that guy a drink.]
> Think of the side projects they can spin from this. Off the top of my head
> I can think of this.....ad space on free film development, the banner ad
> taken back to print. Ive aleady seen some toss off cameras that print
> messages like HAPPY BIRTHDAY on snaps.
> Anyway, I think with the right cash and the right hands this is a no
> brainer to be a corner stone of the collective consumer culture.
Someone should pay you to sit around and think stuff like this up.
I'm *still* trying to find the IRC channels where the "Gnutella
Underground & In-Crowd" is drinking kool aid together...
For what it's worth, my answer on why Snapfish deserves $40 million in
funding is that $40 million for a photoportal seems a lot more bang for
one's buck than $140 million for a real estate trading site. (See
below.)
$40 million here, $140 million there... sooner or later, you're
beginning to talk about real money...
For example, Rohit just informed me that OmniSky just received a $75
million Series C for a pre-money valuation of $600 million. They only
received their "B" round in January -- $20 million. A $600 million
valuation for a company that makes modems for Palms! If it's possible,
the private markets are even more insane than the public markets... hey,
Sandisk has a PE in the 20's, that sounds rational to me.
Ugh, Rohit, tell me that www.mygeek.com didn't just raise $5 million in
"A" round funding... please...
> RealPulse gets $140mln to launch B2B real estate site
>
> NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) - RealPulse, a privately owned real estate
> firm, on Wednesday said it has created a Web site that will function as
> a business-to-business electronic commerce hub for the New York's
> commercial real estate market.
>
> The Realm (http://www.therealm.com), which is set to be launched later
> this year, is being funded in part by a $140 million infusion from a
> group of top name investors, including CMGI Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:CMGI -
> news) @Ventures B2B LLC, Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst Inc., TH Lee.Putnam
> Internet Partners, Gleacher Capital Partners and several other strategic
> investors.
>
> In addition, RealPulse also said it recently acquired four of North
> America's leading commercial real estate technology firms, including
> ARGUS Financial Software, B.J. Murray Inc., CTI Limited and Newstar
> Solutions.
>
> Each company supplies enterprise software and related services for
> property owners, developers, managers, construction firms and
> homebuilders.
>
> The Realm will serve as the gateway to a proprietary infrastructure of
> software and hardware designed to enable the commercial real estate
> industry to conduct most of its day-to-day business online.
>
> The site will be geared toward delivering Internet-based process
> solutions to owners and operators, as well as managers and developers of
> commercial real estate, and is designed to streamline the so-called
> ``B2B'' processing between commercial real estate organisations and the
> various trading partners, which might include tenants, suppliers and
> service providers.
> OmniSky Announces $75 Million Investment by News Corporation and PSINet
> PALO ALTO, Calif., May 2, 2000- OmniSky Corporation, a leading provider
> of comprehensive branded wireless Internet services for handheld mobile
> devices, today announced that it has arranged an additional $75 million
> in financing, with $60 million coming from News Corporation (Nasdaq:NWS)
> and $15 million from PSINet Inc. (Nasdaq:PSIX). As part of the
> transaction, News Corporation will appoint one representative to
> OmniSky's board. After the transaction closes, News Corporation will
> hold an approximate 10% stake and PSINet an approximate 2.5% stake in
> OmniSky.
>
> In a separate press release, OmniSky and News Corporation also announced
> a joint venture to explore international opportunities for wireless
> Internet services. The venture will extend OmniSky's services globally
> and expand the availability and quality of high-speed wireless Internet
> access, content and e-commerce.
>
> The closing of the News Corporation financing and joint venture
> transactions is subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals.
>
> About News Corporation
>
> News Corporation had total assets as of December 31, 1999 of
> approximately US$39 billion and total annual revenues of approximately
> US$14 billion. News Corporation's diversified global operations in the
> United States, Canada, continental Europe, the United Kingdom,
> Australia, Latin America and the Pacific Basin include the production
> and distribution of motion pictures and television programming;
> television, satellite and cable broadcasting; the publication of
> newspapers, magazines and books; the production and distribution of
> promotional and advertising products and services; the development of
> digital broadcasting; the development of conditional access and
> subscriber management systems; and the creation and distribution of
> popular on-line programming. News Corporation has provided information
> in this press release regarding News Corporation.
>
> About PSINet
>
> Headquartered in Herndon, VA, PSINet is an Internet Super Carrier
> offering global e-Commerce infrastructure and a full suite of retail and
> wholesale Internet services through wholly-owned PSINet subsidiaries.
> Services are provided on PSINet-owned and -operated fiber, satellite,
> web hosting and switching facilities providing direct access in more
> than 800 metropolitan areas in 28 countries on five continents. PSINet
> information may be obtained by e-mail at info@psi.com, by accessing the
> web site at www.psinet.com or by calling in the U.S., 800-799-0676.
> PSINet has provided information in this press release regarding PSINet.
>
> About OmniSky Corporation
>
> OmniSky Corporation is a leading provider of comprehensive branded
> wireless Internet services that enable subscribers to access and
> navigate the Internet, send and receive e-mail from their existing
> accounts, and securely conduct e-commerce over handheld mobile devices.
> The service features an easy-to-use portal that organizes a wide variety
> of information by interest area categories such as entertainment,
> finance, news, shopping, sports, travel and weather. Subscribers have
> the ability to access content that is optimized for enhanced viewing and
> performance on handheld mobile devices from approximately 1,000 popular
> branded content feeds as well as to browse virtually any Web site. AT&T
> Wireless Services is the premier network provider for the OmniSky
> service, using its CDPD wireless network, with coverage in major cities
> across the nation. OmniSky is a privately funded corporation based in
> Palo Alto, California. In addition to today's announcements, OmniSky has
> received financing and support from Aether Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:AETH),
> 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS) and Sprout Group, Donaldson Lufkin &
> Jenrette's venture capital affiliate (NYSE:DLJ). The company's web site
> is www.omnisky.com
---- Adam@4K-Associates.com.sig double play!
The thermostat, light bulb, clock radio -- everything should be connected to the Internet. -- Scott McNealy, Fortune, April 17, 2000, p. 162
Every single object manufactured will be created with a wireless address and will carry an identifier. -- Bill Joy, Fortune, April 17, 2000, p. 162
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