The search for an intelligent business model

Owen Thomas — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:40:29 EST

Chirp, a so-called "social screensaver," has launched to the usual barrage of press. How could a company stocked with such brilliant founders — CEO Eve Phillips has a masters degree from MIT and an MBA from Stanford — have come up with such a brain-dead business model? Screensavers have been technologically outmoded for a decade or more, and they waste electricity. As more computer users switch to laptops, and close up the lid when the computer's not in use, do they have much of a future?

Even worse is the content Chirp displays on its screensaver: Updates from your social networks. Eric Eldon writes at VentureBeat:

It reminds me of the SETI screensaver — you know, the one that uses your computer to analyze radio telescope data collected by researchers, trying to find signs of intelligent, extraterrestrial communication. The difference is, Chirp is a screensaver that helps you see intelligent communication from your friends.

Right. Have Chirp's founders actually used any social networks? Intelligent communication is the last thing one should expect from them.

Gawker: valleywag, chirp

The search for an intelligent business model