Why Twitter shouldn’t sell
Now that the Apple-buying-Twitter rumor is cold, it’s time to ask not who’ll buy Twitter, but why on Earth would it sell? There are three good reasons for founders Jack Dorsey, Ev Williams and Biz Stone to relax till the tech sector comes back.
First, the rumors that Twitter spends a fortune on outbound SMS fees doesn’t match the reality: When was the last time you saw anyone texting 40404 instead of using Twitteriffic? Second, the… Continue Reading
Searching for the wisdom of the twits
When President Barack Obama was inaugurated, I wrote a post about the new presidential website titled, “WhiteHouse.gov takes a page from Twitter’s playbook.” At the time, I thought the headline was a joke — because, ha ha, no one would expect nuanced policy discussion on the micro-blogging site with a 140-character limit — but it looks like I was actually peering into the Twitteriffic future.
On Friday, 20 “young business leaders” are headed to the White… Continue Reading
SonicMountain acquires podcasting company Odeo, reportedly for more than $1M
New York’s SonicMountain, a new podcasting start-up that has yet to launch, has acquired Odeo, the early San Francisco podcasting site that launched in July 2005.
Odeo had become less of a focus for its owner, Evan Williams of late. Williams has launched a holding company, called Obvious, and has found more interest in other projects, including Twitter, also now under the Obvious roof. However, it has remained a destination for people interested in podcasts,… Continue Reading
Roundup: Google’s StumbleUpon clone, Froogle gone, Google phone, more
Here’s the latest action:
Google’s fireworks — This has been an impressive week for Google, and it shows in the 4 percent-plus jump in Google’s stock price earlier this morning (though it has tapered in the past hour). The main driver was its stellar earnings report. But here are the side-shows:
Video: It announced a video-conferencing product acquisition this morning (see our story).
StumbleUpon lookalike: Google also released a tool that looks a lot of like StumbleUpon, the site… Continue Reading
Roundup: Digg’s crisis, Odeo, Amidzad’s touch, Mobio’s movies, HAVA for Christmas
Happy Thanksgiving weekend, folks. Here’s a roundup of the latest.
The crisis at Digg — Digg, the San Francisco company that lets users rank news, is facing a credibility test. A fake story about Sony recalling its PlayStation 3 stayed on the site’s front-page for several hours, even though the content was clearly questionable — people blindly digged the article nonetheless. This led to some sleuthing by Niall Kennedy, who turned up evidence of some major spamming…. Continue Reading
Roundup: FON’s gambit, Obvious, Zachary’s blog, Vox & more
Roundup in Silicon Valley:
FON exploits opportunity to stir up WiFi interest in San Francisco — Search engine company Google is having a heck of a time getting “crazy nut job” local SF residents to agree to its plans for a city-wide WiFi project. So while big Google is stymied, another company, FON, is hoping to slip under the regulatory radar with a grassroots campaign: Offering hundreds of its La Fonera wireless routers at an event it… Continue Reading