SitePoint.com

Apr 1, 2006, 18:09

Wouldn't putting your idea out there leave it more open to be stolen and implemented by someone else before the idea is bought out by a big coporation?

FruitMedley Post · Apr 1, 2006, 18:24

I especially liked the tip that suggested graffiting trains, given as it could give you country-wide coverage.

Digital Portrait · Apr 1, 2006, 18:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by FruitMedley Post

I especially liked the tip that suggested graffiting trains, given as it could give you country-wide coverage.

LOL that made me laugh so hard!

Gator99 · Apr 1, 2006, 19:43

Hilarious, 3 thumbs up.

mpdesigns · Apr 1, 2006, 19:50

Are people actually taking this article seriously? lol.

MRoderick · Apr 2, 2006, 00:41

It's ironic. I was just thinking to myself that I will never publish an Aprils Fools joke for my company. Never.

You run the risk of clients / audience taking it literally and putting dents in an otherwise healthy relationship.

You should probably stamp it "WARNING: JOKE!" at the top somewhere.

Jelena · Apr 2, 2006, 04:49

Jason's lastname is also a joke?

Apr 2, 2006, 06:58

Is this a spoof of the getting real book by 37signals?

Hostpitable · Apr 2, 2006, 08:30

It worked! I got 3 billion in VC from Kleiner, Caufield, Perkins & Byers.
My web 2.0 app lets dogs design clothes for dogs via barking/voice recognition.
I´ve got that market cornered.

Apr 2, 2006, 13:24

just wait, another 6 months and we are going to be cluttered with web 2.0 CRAP just like we still have all those awful sites left over from the late 90's

How worthless

kgun · Apr 2, 2006, 14:38

Excellent tips, I have studied them in dept and are putting up some new sites based on the Web 2.0 ******** Generator™.

Coke is brown water with a little sugar and good smell is a luxury good.

mattymcg · Apr 2, 2006, 17:40

Happy April Fool's Day everyone! We've placed a note at the top of the article to clear up any confusion that may have arisen.

Glad so many of you enjoyed the article, I certainly had a lot of fun writing it! And many of you correctly identified the inspiration (if you're not sure, take a look at the author's profile for a big hint!)

Edit:

Oops, it's been removed. It read "Jason Gried is President of the successful Chicago-based web abbreviations company 37singles. This is his first SitePoint article."

Cheers
Matt

Oh, and for the record, SitePoint certainly does not encourage the practices that the article advocates. Especially those comments about defacing train stations, misleading investors or reinventing your identity!

Mr. B · Apr 3, 2006, 08:34

I specifically liked the reinventing your identity part - great article overall ;)

Apr 3, 2006, 09:05

Unfortunately, there will be an unlucky <removed> who'll take this seriously. :)

Apr 3, 2006, 17:26

I can't believe people aren't falling over themselves about this article (am I missing something). This has got to be one of the funniest, most ruthless digs at the "web 2.0 evangelists" (ROR crowd included?) I've read. And its right on point too.

I'm going to be building my website pretty soon and I hope you'll let me link to this article from my FAQ section.

Good work.

bennettpr · Apr 3, 2006, 20:21

I'll give you $287 million for this article!

Apr 4, 2006, 04:19

What is funny about ‘advocating’, even 'tongue in cheek', that people should set out to commit fraud. If this article was written about some other sort of criminal activity, it would most likely constitute a crime in itself.

Does anyone remember a television ad, about a year ago, (won’t mention the company) that portrayed a jealous neighbour taking delivery of someone else’s new flat screen TV? The ad essentially advocated theft and lasted about a week before it was withdrawn.

It’s this kind of mentality that the IT ‘profession’ desperately needs to distance itself from. There are still some unscrupulous people and businesses in the industry that operate this way, although not so deliberately or blatantly. You just have to look at some of the ‘projects’ that get government funding.

The article also implies that the dot com era was about people operating in this manner. Although, to many it may have seemed that way, but I think most dot com companies genuinely believed their ideas had merit and so deserved to be funded. I don’t think there were many that deliberately set out to defraud investors.

Its taken years for the IT industry to recover from the damage done by the dot com era. We don’t need the business community to be constantly reminded of it.

For anyone that still thinks this article is funny, would you also think the following scenario is funny.

A site providing information to employers and the recruitment industry writes and posts a similar ‘tongue in cheek’ article about how employers can use the new IR legislation and skilled migration to:

- sack their existing workforce,
- employ migrant workers for a fraction of the cost,
- help drive down salaries and rates, etc etc

Perception is everything!

mattymcg · Apr 4, 2006, 16:30

Hi BobTheBuilder,

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobTheBuilder

If this article was written about some other sort of criminal activity, it would most likely constitute a crime in itself.

I must confess I don't know what you mean by this. Are you suggesting that all of the April Fool's jokes out there border on being criminal because they are deliberately misleading?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobTheBuilder

There are still some unscrupulous people and businesses in the industry that operate this way, although not so deliberately or blatantly. You just have to look at some of the ‘projects’ that get government funding.

The point of my article exactly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobTheBuilder

The article also implies that the dot com era was about people operating in this manner.

I don't recall referencing the dot com era at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobTheBuilder

Its taken years for the IT industry to recover from the damage done by the dot com era. We don’t need the business community to be constantly reminded of it.

I would disagree. Would you say that because it's taken years for the residents of Hiroshima to recover from their tragedy, that the world should not be reminded that it happened? While it is exciting that web apps are really coming of age, what benefit can be gained by ignoring the fact that the market is becoming saturated with many applications that are 1% product and 99% hype?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobTheBuilder

For anyone that still thinks this article is funny, would you also think the following scenario is funny.

It certainly depends on the individual. I guess it could be said that the article borders on black humour, which is a genre that has been around a lot longer than the Internet.

In the end though, it was simply intended for a few laughs and to highlight some of the cliches that are happening out there under the umbrella of "Web 2.0". Sorry you failed to see the funny side, plenty of others seemed to!

keithcelt · Apr 4, 2006, 21:00

Man, this article rocks. Bob may not have liked it but I thought it was great. Admittedly a couple points rang a little too true for comfort, but that is why it's funny.

Thanks for the laugh!

-K

AlexW · Apr 5, 2006, 17:51

Not sure where you are, Bob, but the ad of which you speak ran harmlessly for months and months here -- at least six months. Never raised a ripple.

How did you go with Oceans Eleven? Fancy all those cool guys having fun robbing casinos. I betcha there are kids all over the world dreaming about becoming armed robbers rather than doctors now. Disgraceful. ;)

Apr 5, 2006, 19:52

I see my point has been missed entirely.

I have no problem with works of fiction in any form. Although, I personally don’t enjoy books and films that ‘glorify’ crime.

My problem with this article, is not so much its content, but the fact that it is presented on an IT web site.

Do people think that Casino operators/owners would enjoy Oceans 11? It's all about context.

This is not the correct forum to elabotate, but I’d be happy to write an article for Site Point (not derogatory) about professional standards in IT.

smith288 · Apr 6, 2006, 13:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobTheBuilder

I see my point has been missed entirely.

I have no problem with works of fiction in any form. Although, I personally don’t enjoy books and films that ‘glorify’ crime.

My problem with this article, is not so much its content, but the fact that it is presented on an IT web site.

Do people think that Casino operators/owners would enjoy Oceans 11? It's all about context.

This is not the correct forum to elabotate, but I’d be happy to write an article for Site Point (not derogatory) about professional standards in IT.

Good God, its a satirical article on a subject so many of us can relate to... Humor lost. What a waste.

jchance · Apr 6, 2006, 21:44

A great read, and of course I loved the sarcasm. Good work!.

stymiee · Apr 7, 2006, 06:42

I'm out of fluff. Anyone got some to spare that I can borrow?

Apr 7, 2006, 14:17

wonderful for a personal blog post/rant but a pointless waste of space and time for Sitepoint. How much is an article of fluff about fluff worth? Well I'm sure it did well since you used "Web 2.0" in the title moreso than the witty writing.

Apr 1, 2006, 19:43	#29
Gator99 Non-Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Florida Posts: 644	Hilarious, 3 thumbs up. Last edited by Gator99; Apr 2, 2006 at 10:34.

Apr 2, 2006, 17:40	#37
mattymcg Team SitePoint Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 566	Happy April Fool's Day everyone! We've placed a note at the top of the article to clear up any confusion that may have arisen. Glad so many of you enjoyed the article, I certainly had a lot of fun writing it! And many of you correctly identified the inspiration (if you're not sure, take a look at the author's profile for a big hint!) Edit: Oops, it's been removed. It read "Jason Gried is President of the successful Chicago-based web abbreviations company 37singles. This is his first SitePoint article." Cheers Matt Oh, and for the record, SitePoint certainly does not encourage the practices that the article advocates. Especially those comments about defacing train stations, misleading investors or reinventing your identity! Last edited by mattymcg; Apr 2, 2006 at 18:34.

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Apr 1, 2006, 18:09	#26
weekbeforenext SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	Wouldn't putting your idea out there leave it more open to be stolen and implemented by someone else before the idea is bought out by a big coporation?

Apr 1, 2006, 18:24	#27
FruitMedley Post SitePoint Guru Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 619	I especially liked the tip that suggested graffiting trains, given as it could give you country-wide coverage.

Apr 1, 2006, 19:50	#30
mpdesigns SitePoint Addict Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 396	Are people actually taking this article seriously? lol.

Apr 2, 2006, 00:41	#31
MRoderick SitePoint Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Malmö, Sweden Posts: 9	It's ironic. I was just thinking to myself that I will never publish an Aprils Fools joke for my company. Never. You run the risk of clients / audience taking it literally and putting dents in an otherwise healthy relationship. You should probably stamp it "WARNING: JOKE!" at the top somewhere.

Apr 2, 2006, 04:49	#32
Jelena I work for chocolate! Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Universum, 3rd Corner Posts: 3,760	Jason's lastname is also a joke?

Apr 2, 2006, 06:58	#33
bryan SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	Is this a spoof of the getting real book by 37signals?

Apr 2, 2006, 08:30	#34
Hostpitable HAHA! Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 641	It worked! I got 3 billion in VC from Kleiner, Caufield, Perkins & Byers. My web 2.0 app lets dogs design clothes for dogs via barking/voice recognition. I´ve got that market cornered.

Apr 2, 2006, 13:24	#35
aj SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	just wait, another 6 months and we are going to be cluttered with web 2.0 CRAP just like we still have all those awful sites left over from the late 90's How worthless

Apr 2, 2006, 14:38	#36
kgun SitePoint Addict Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Moss, Norway. Posts: 274	Excellent tips, I have studied them in dept and are putting up some new sites based on the Web 2.0 ******** Generator™. Coke is brown water with a little sugar and good smell is a luxury good.

Apr 3, 2006, 08:34	#38
Mr. B Grr. Arrgh. Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: The Hut Posts: 865	I specifically liked the reinventing your identity part - great article overall ;)

Apr 3, 2006, 09:05	#39
Hanan SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	Unfortunately, there will be an unlucky <removed> who'll take this seriously. :)

Apr 3, 2006, 17:26	#40
ikeo SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	I can't believe people aren't falling over themselves about this article (am I missing something). This has got to be one of the funniest, most ruthless digs at the "web 2.0 evangelists" (ROR crowd included?) I've read. And its right on point too. I'm going to be building my website pretty soon and I hope you'll let me link to this article from my FAQ section. Good work.

Apr 3, 2006, 20:21	#41
bennettpr SitePoint Enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: New Zealand Posts: 59	I'll give you $287 million for this article!

Apr 4, 2006, 04:19	#42
BobTheBuilder SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	What is funny about ‘advocating’, even 'tongue in cheek', that people should set out to commit fraud. If this article was written about some other sort of criminal activity, it would most likely constitute a crime in itself. Does anyone remember a television ad, about a year ago, (won’t mention the company) that portrayed a jealous neighbour taking delivery of someone else’s new flat screen TV? The ad essentially advocated theft and lasted about a week before it was withdrawn. It’s this kind of mentality that the IT ‘profession’ desperately needs to distance itself from. There are still some unscrupulous people and businesses in the industry that operate this way, although not so deliberately or blatantly. You just have to look at some of the ‘projects’ that get government funding. The article also implies that the dot com era was about people operating in this manner. Although, to many it may have seemed that way, but I think most dot com companies genuinely believed their ideas had merit and so deserved to be funded. I don’t think there were many that deliberately set out to defraud investors. Its taken years for the IT industry to recover from the damage done by the dot com era. We don’t need the business community to be constantly reminded of it. For anyone that still thinks this article is funny, would you also think the following scenario is funny. A site providing information to employers and the recruitment industry writes and posts a similar ‘tongue in cheek’ article about how employers can use the new IR legislation and skilled migration to: - sack their existing workforce, - employ migrant workers for a fraction of the cost, - help drive down salaries and rates, etc etc Perception is everything!

Apr 4, 2006, 21:00	#44
keithcelt SitePoint Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 4	Man, this article rocks. Bob may not have liked it but I thought it was great. Admittedly a couple points rang a little too true for comfort, but that is why it's funny. Thanks for the laugh! -K

Apr 5, 2006, 17:51	#45
AlexW Team SitePoint Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Melbourne Posts: 1,004	Not sure where you are, Bob, but the ad of which you speak ran harmlessly for months and months here -- at least six months. Never raised a ripple. How did you go with Oceans Eleven? Fancy all those cool guys having fun robbing casinos. I betcha there are kids all over the world dreaming about becoming armed robbers rather than doctors now. Disgraceful. ;)

Apr 5, 2006, 19:52	#46
BobTheBuilder SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	I see my point has been missed entirely. I have no problem with works of fiction in any form. Although, I personally don’t enjoy books and films that ‘glorify’ crime. My problem with this article, is not so much its content, but the fact that it is presented on an IT web site. Do people think that Casino operators/owners would enjoy Oceans 11? It's all about context. This is not the correct forum to elabotate, but I’d be happy to write an article for Site Point (not derogatory) about professional standards in IT.

Apr 6, 2006, 21:44	#48
jchance SitePoint Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 6	A great read, and of course I loved the sarcasm. Good work!.

Apr 7, 2006, 06:42	#49
stymiee He's No Good To Me Dead Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Slave I Posts: 24,090	I'm out of fluff. Anyone got some to spare that I can borrow?

Apr 7, 2006, 14:17	#50
dgibson SitePoint Community Guest Posts: n/a	wonderful for a personal blog post/rant but a pointless waste of space and time for Sitepoint. How much is an article of fluff about fluff worth? Well I'm sure it did well since you used "Web 2.0" in the title moreso than the witty writing.