Why Learn From The Past If You're Just Going To Repeat It?

from the haven't-we-seen-this-before? dept

Wed, Apr 12th 2006 11:00pm — Mike Masnick

Just a month ago we were pointing out that the press seemed to have fallen down on the job in noting the history of failures for online "swapping" services -- of which there have been plenty over the years. Add the NY Times to the list, as they've written up a story on yet another such service, which sounds almost identical to similar services that were everywhere in the late 90s, without once mentioning the history littered with failures in the space. Of course, on the good side, the founders of this particular swapping startup are at least doing it on the side, keeping their full time jobs going. Of course, if that's the case... it makes you wonder why it's important enough for the NY Times to be covering it?

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

8 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

suv4x4, 13 Apr 2006 @ 12:02am

That's it!
That's exactly what I've been repeating to my History class teacher but naaah!

By the way, nothing remains static in time. You never know if trying enough times won't turn a hopelessly retarded idea into a get-rich-quick scheme...

Selling pixels for $10 bucks anyone? Never worked before, then worked one, and now will never work again (or maybe it will in few years again?)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
?, 13 Apr 2006 @ 2:14am

Re: That's it!
I have two questions: what are you talking about with the pixels?

and

Why do some articles on techdirt have words "crossed" out?

Please educate me somebody!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
?, 13 Apr 2006 @ 2:19am

Re: That's it!
I have two questions: what are you talking about with the pixels?

and

Why do some articles on techdirt have words "crossed" out?

Please educate me somebody!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
?, 13 Apr 2006 @ 2:20am

This is what I get for playing Unreal all night lo
A little quick on the "fire" button.

DOH!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jezsik, 13 Apr 2006 @ 4:31am

Words crossed out?
A word crossed out, I believe, is way of making a bit of a joke. A recent article said something about the FCC spending time doing something. A word in front of spending was crossed out, wasting. It was as if the author first called a spade a spade but then decided to tone it down (but still letting us in on the orginal thought). It's like saying "He's very cheap ... uh, I mean thrifty."

I suspect the pixel bit refers to www.milliondollarhomepage.com.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
dani, 13 Apr 2006 @ 4:35am

Success is not based on the dea alone
How many "new" businesses start each day in the "real" physical world? And how many of those are actually new ideas that have never been tried before?

There's more to business than coming up with a good idea. How an idea is marketed makes a big difference (and these people were able to somehow convince the NY Times to run their press release)

And I've said before, customer service is the BIGGEST part of a company's success. If this new swapping service meets customer needs better than any of the past failures, and makes a point of making their customers feel important, they may surprise you.

A good business is not just a "good idea". It's convincing people they need or want what you offer. A good marketing, sales, cusomer service team can make any idea a success...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Scott, 13 Apr 2006 @ 5:50am

Re: Re: That's it!
As to the pixels look up the "million dollar website"

The things crossed out are how things actually are, the supplied replacement is how people would say things are(more or less.)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
anonymous coward, 13 Apr 2006 @ 11:27am

i love lala.com

swapping site that actually works. Fuck the RIAA!
[ link to this | view in thread ]