The recent hubbub over Wikia Search had many questioning the wisdom of tech stalwarts Jimmy Wales and Gil Penchina. What were they thinking, introing a rudimentary search app that delivered poor results? At varying times called a “practice run,” “doom [for] Wikia as a business,” and my personal favorite “weapons grade fail,” seasoned tech bloggers were unrelenting in their criticisms. After talking with Gil earlier this week, though, I think the most interesting angle on this story has been MIA. Read the rest of this entry »
Posts Tagged ‘Wikia Search’
All posts tagged Wikia Search.
There’s a lot of anger in the air these days. It’s the nature of blogging, I suppose – dash some vitriol off and you’re guaranteed to start a conversation. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; better to generate emotion of any kind than none at all. But it can also be damaging to the very essence of entrepreneurship. If ideas are met with too much resistance, will the tap eventually dry up? Will innovators become too afraid to put themselves out there, lest they anger the blog gods? The answer depends on who you are.
I talked with two companies recently that have been on the receiving end of some anger. Wikia Search rolled out its alpha to a chorus of “What the hell is this?” Company execs responded, “It is what is,” able to do so because of a supportive community and a general agreement that the search sector needs innovation. At the other end of the spectrum lies Story2Oh, an intriguing little project started by screenwriter Jill Golick, who wanted to dip her toe into Web 2.0 and got smacked down harshly in return. Read the rest of this entry »
