Today’s Intelligence
I made a point the other night several times in discussions with other people, and I felt it was worth repeating:
The web is in an awkward state right now. People are trying to make money on the Internet in a variety of ways, but there’s no stable business model. Lots of people are making money doing crazy things, and yet the vast majority of startups are hemmoraging incredible amounts of money in failing to get the point of running a business online. It’s been this way since the start of the online push in the mid 90’s, and it’s starting to get silly again with Web 2.0. A lot of companies are making a lot of noise in doing something that seems to have no long-term stable business model. The scene is a mess. And this is nothing new! You figure people would have learned by now. But only a few people have been able to turn startup websites into stand-alone cash-cow businesses. The rest just don’t seem to get it. They’re too distracted by the fact that a few people are making a ton of money on websites that do nothing well except exist and sell ads.
But we’re slowly and progressively moving to a point in time when people will realize success online because they are providing an outstanding or superior product or service overall, and not just because they were the first people to think of it, because their website is oh-so-pretty, or because some cool-hunting reporters thought it’d be great to mention them in their newspaper columns. At some point, businesses will be able to figure out a stable way of bringing in revenue from a quality product online and avoid dangerous prolonged bouts with bankruptcy (ala Salon.com). And that’s the day that things online will get better.
Also, here’s an idea: fart-scented trick candles. Do they sell these anywhere? And if not, then why would their potential be overlooked? Just take a small, unassuming candle cast in white or some pastel color (so that it looks like a normal tealight candle), and give it to someone who uses scented candles. Then, when they light it, it’ll make the room stink like ass. Potentially the best prank ever. I would swap out the candles at Duane Reade for theses little putrid fuckers, and hang around to laugh at people who mistakenly buy them. I would get a case of them and put them at the bar at Fat Abortion. This could make for years worth of endless fun.
That’s all for now. If I think of anything else fucked up, I’ll let you know.