Gawker: valleywag, web 2.0 expo

A week that saw Web 2.0 dethroned

Owen Thomas — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT

Web 2.0 Expo this week persuaded that not only was Web 2.0 over, but saying it was over was over. To celebrate other Internet clichés, the 250 — that is to say, the 250 people on the Internet who matter to the 250 — decamped for ROFLcon in Massachusetts. Thank goodness, because some of us had actual work to do. Yahoo showed what it could do with its first-quarter earnings — which is to say, not much more than it had been doing before. Now Yahoos are bracing for more layoffs — when they're taking breaks from stealing credit and stabbing colleagues in the back. Facebookers, meanwhile, buzzed about a rumored feud between founders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz. Moskovitz denied the tiff, but then displayed enough 'tude to explain why even the contentious Zuckerberg might want to stay away. Who wins the dyspeptic crown? Anyone who made it through this week. (Photo by AP/Kevin Sanders)

CNET's Caroline McCarthy pours water on Web 2.0 hotheads

Jackson West — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EDT

After a week of browsing booths and attending parties in San Francisco for the Web 2.0 Expo, New York-based tech reporter Caroline McCarthy rained on the local bubble's annual hype parade. [News.com] (Photo by Brian Solis)

Why Marc Andreessen should stick to his keyboard

Owen Thomas — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:40:00 EDT

Every time Marc Andreessen steps away from his desk, disaster abounds. For the father of the Netscape browser, the creator of the Web as we know it, the legendary barefoot geek from the magazine covers, expectations are way too high. And so the disappointments pile up. The Andreessen of today is not the Marc we remember. His pate has gone from mophead to Klingon; his wardrobe, inevitably a tracksuit with leather shoes, is an utter disaster. And when he speaks, he says absolutely nothing. John Battelle, the slickster salesman-interviewer of bubbles past and present, tried to get some fighting words out of Andreessen on stage at Web 2.0 Expo. He failed, utterly, epicly. Andreessen praised Bill Gates, said competing with Microsoft was interesting, described Microsoft-Yahoo as "a good deal."

A recent Fast Company article on Andreessen's current venture, Ning, went no better. You can practically hear the writer propping his eyelids open as Andreessen goes on, and on, and on, about "viral expansion loops."

What happened to the Andreessen who once ridiculed Windows as "a set of poorly debugged device drivers"? Why, he's gone online. Andreessen's blog is relentlessly entertaining. His verbal fisticuffs with the New York Times are must-reads; the vitriol oozes out of every line. And he posts just infrequently enough to keep us hanging on every word.

The only surprise, really, is that Andreessen took so long to start blogging. This world was not made for him. In the Web, he created one to suit.

(Photo by mathoov)

Schwaggin' Wagon donating tech tees

Jackson West — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:40:00 EDT

After years of going to tech networking events and trade shows, you end up with logo shirts and crappy hats. Unless you have the fashion sense of Robert Scoble, you wouldn't actually want to be seen wearing them in public. Which inspired consultants Michael Liskin and David Preciado to come up with The Schwaggin' Wagon, and BloggerReps CEO Marjorie Kase wrangled the van. They'll take your unwanted promotional goodies and turn them into support for InnerKids, a Southern California nonprofit committed to instilling Buddhist mindfulness in the young. The message on which our youth can meditate: That you care enough to give them something you got for free. (Photo by Andrew Mager)

"How many of you got burnt by Pets.com? Nobody? Great!"

Jackson West — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:00:00 EDT

Dogster founder Ted Rheingold preaching to the choir at the Web 2.0 Expo. Got a better one? Leave it in the comments. (Photo by Randy Stewart)