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JackSpratts · 07-06-05, 10:41 PM

hi galiel and welcome to the uberground

in what for the subject and the company was a particularly neutral piece the nyt today published an article that briefly touched upon some of the conflicts and opportunities facing us in the post-information age, in this case the tug of war between profits and public service, and how those devoted to the latter are causing major headaches for those pursuing the former.

What eBay Could Learn From Craigslist lays out fairly well the very real conflict between flinty eyed big-capital and a starry eyed human mass.

"THESE days, triple-digit annual growth rates are rare among major Web sites. Meet that rarity: Craigslist.

Exceptional, too, is the ability to draw 10 million unique visitors each month without ever relying on venture capital and equity markets. Or the ability to attain fourth place among general-interest portals without ever spending a penny on marketing.

Signal accomplishments, to be sure, fit for boasting in an annual report. But Craigslist is a privately held company that has no such reports, and no burning interest in the competitive fray. It does far more shrugging than boasting. Its management regards profits, which it has earned consistently since 1999, as merely the means to remain in control of its own destiny. Free of debt, it can do as it wishes to maximize what it calls its service mission without having to maximize profits. This is good news for its customers - that is, community members - and bad news for competitors whose shareholders are unlikely to regard community service as their own companies' raison d'être."

while it may be more complicated to use the courts to upend this small company in the way the media giants have destabilized file-sharing, it's won't be difficult for them to usurp it by other means. the article mentions ebay recently purchased 25% of craigslist from a founding partner and is now copying the business model, even if it won’t clone the philosophy.

i would love to say the internet will be the vehicle we ride towards that beneficent future where all are equal and exploitation rare but it is a fact that every single journey of this type that humanity has embarked on, and there have been many, has ultimately led right back to the very darkness it was trying so desperately to escape from, which is i believe it's own conflicted self.

perhaps in a sort of spiritual bootstrap there is something so fundamentally unique about all these ones and zeros that they will actually allow us to reprogram our troubled souls, but as much as i love a noble quest i’m not holding my breath. like the rest of the really cool stuff humanity’s stumbled upon, we will have to save it, it’s not going to save us. if we drop the ball for a nanosecond our ugly proxies will gleefully trample it underfoot.

- js.

07-06-05, 10:41 PM	#4
JackSpratts Join Date: May 2001 Location: New England Posts: 10,018	hi galiel and welcome to the uberground in what for the subject and the company was a particularly neutral piece the nyt today published an article that briefly touched upon some of the conflicts and opportunities facing us in the post-information age, in this case the tug of war between profits and public service, and how those devoted to the latter are causing major headaches for those pursuing the former. What eBay Could Learn From Craigslist lays out fairly well the very real conflict between flinty eyed big-capital and a starry eyed human mass. "THESE days, triple-digit annual growth rates are rare among major Web sites. Meet that rarity: Craigslist. Exceptional, too, is the ability to draw 10 million unique visitors each month without ever relying on venture capital and equity markets. Or the ability to attain fourth place among general-interest portals without ever spending a penny on marketing. Signal accomplishments, to be sure, fit for boasting in an annual report. But Craigslist is a privately held company that has no such reports, and no burning interest in the competitive fray. It does far more shrugging than boasting. Its management regards profits, which it has earned consistently since 1999, as merely the means to remain in control of its own destiny. Free of debt, it can do as it wishes to maximize what it calls its service mission without having to maximize profits. This is good news for its customers - that is, community members - and bad news for competitors whose shareholders are unlikely to regard community service as their own companies' raison d'être." while it may be more complicated to use the courts to upend this small company in the way the media giants have destabilized file-sharing, it's won't be difficult for them to usurp it by other means. the article mentions ebay recently purchased 25% of craigslist from a founding partner and is now copying the business model, even if it won’t clone the philosophy. i would love to say the internet will be the vehicle we ride towards that beneficent future where all are equal and exploitation rare but it is a fact that every single journey of this type that humanity has embarked on, and there have been many, has ultimately led right back to the very darkness it was trying so desperately to escape from, which is i believe it's own conflicted self. perhaps in a sort of spiritual bootstrap there is something so fundamentally unique about all these ones and zeros that they will actually allow us to reprogram our troubled souls, but as much as i love a noble quest i’m not holding my breath. like the rest of the really cool stuff humanity’s stumbled upon, we will have to save it, it’s not going to save us. if we drop the ball for a nanosecond our ugly proxies will gleefully trample it underfoot. - js.